Of Illness and Beautiful Days
by sunshine2006578
Summary: Chloe gets sick. It changes some things.  ChloexAlek! Rated M just in case. Set before and during "Beautiful Day". R&R?
1. Chapter 1

**I have such ADD when it comes to directing my inspiration. Anyhow. I've been afflicted with some strange, horrid illness recently, and my muse was all "You know, this could be an excellent plot…" **

**Three-shot! Rated M just in case, there's nothing too racy.**

**(This is set sometime after **_**Responsible. **_**Definitely AU, but not too much.)**

_How's it you _

_That makes me _

_Better? _

_-_ Vanessa Carlton

"_Awek." _

The extremely nasal voice drifted through the phone and into his ear, and he squinted open his eyes to double check the caller I.D. Yep, it was definitely Chloe. Or someone using Chloe's phone.

"To what do I owe the pleasure at…" He squinted again, glancing at the clock beside his bed. "Five thirty in the morning on an optional-school-attendance Friday?"

A beat, and then, "_Sah-wy. I've been up all night. I didn't realize it was this early." _

He listened to her apology, and when she didn't elaborate, he snapped "Well?" And wondered why her voice sounded so funny. Almost like Squidward from that demented show about the sponge.

"_Oh. I'm sick. Like, __**weally**__ sick. So I can't train today. Tonight. Whatever." _

An extreme coughing fit broke the silence as he decided how to respond to that.

"Well… have you been to the doctor?" He finally managed.

Valentina is _not_ going to like this.

"_Uh huh. I have the fwucking fwu. Or maybe pneumonia. They weren't exactly fwucking sure. How can they not know? They have medical degrees, right?" _He couldn't help but decide she sounded adorably like Elmer Fudd.

"Now, now, Chloe. Language." He rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.

She coughed some more, and he winced at the hoarse sound.

It sounded a lot worse than the flu.

"Didn't you get a shot like the rest of us?" He asked. They'd administered them to most of the student body at school this week.

"_No! Are you cwazy? Why in the world would I let someone stick a sliver of metal into my skin?" _The scratchiness in her throat caused her voice to break several times, and the damn coughs started back up.

She sniffled and sighed.

"Because it keeps you healthy? Because Valentina is going to throw a bitch fit and a half when she hears that you've succumbed to such a worldly thing as the flu?"

A thought occurred to him suddenly. If Chloe was too weak to train, it meant she was too weak to fight. She could be in any amount of danger right now.

His voice was sharp when he spoke again. "Chloe, listen to me. Stay on the line, alright? Don't hang up."

He rolled out of bed and shoved his legs into jeans faster than lightening. He pulled on a clean-ish black shirt, the first one he found on the floor, and stuffed his feet into shoes.

"_Why?"_

"I'm coming over, alright?"

"_What? No! My mom is here to take care of me." _

"So? Remember the break-in the two of you had? Your mother is powerless against assassins and the Order, and right now you're extremely vulnerable."

He sprinted to the kitchen, silent on his feet, and scribbled a note Jasmine would be sure to see when she woke. It appeared Valentina was already out for the day.

"…_Oh."_

"Yeah, oh," he muttered under his breath, grabbing the keys to one of the cars in the garage.

Valentina wouldn't mind if he borrowed.

"_Well, at least make yourself useful and pick me up a few things on your way. That can be a good cwover for my mother, too." _

He smiled in spite of himself. She was just so cute. "Yes, of _course _my dear. What would you like?"

He could sense her rolling her eyes at him. "_Tea. Lots of it. Stuff that smells good. Hot stuff. And really cold stuff. Like ice cweam._"

Well, way to be specific, there.

He searched the cabinets before resorting to wasting time in a grocery store; he found tomato and chicken noodle soup, and a few tiny bags of tea that would last at least until this afternoon. He also grabbed three of the six flavors of ice cream in the freezer, the heaviest ones.

"Got it," he said, and listened to her heavy, labored breathing on the other end.

It scared him a bit, the rattling noise, and the way her coughs came through ten times louder than her voice.

He made it to her house in half the time.

The sun hadn't even come up yet; the sky had that luminescent blue look to it, and he didn't bother with the door, just used the tree to jump to the roof like he always did. He saw her window was open already, and swung himself down and through it, the bag of stuff bumping against the sill a bit.

She was collapsing back onto her pillows, and Alek didn't know what he had expected to see, but this certainly wasn't it.

Her bed sheets were rumpled; they didn't look slept in, they looked _wallowed_ in. Tons of pillows were stacked, one on top of the other, and Chloe lay back against them, still not seeming to get her head high enough or at just the right angle. She wore tiny shorts, but a huge hoodie, and he vaguely recognized it as the one he left here for when it rained.

Her hair was messy and tangled, up in a bun, and she looked much, much paler than usual. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she seemed absolutely miserable.

"Oh darling," he said, the affectionate word slipping without his permission, "_why_ didn't you just get a vaccination like the rest of us?"

Chloe moaned pathetically, closing her eyes and sinking stiffly into her nest of pillows. "Hey mister. Don't go all condescending on me right now. If it's pneumonia, then there's nothing a flu vaccination would've done."

Well, he couldn't argue with that.

Normally her room was well-lighted, but now she lay in the dim shade, and he immediately switched to his cat-vision, his eyes glowing green in the dark. He turned and shut her window, then her blinds and curtains.

"How long have you been up again?" He asked.

"All night," she groaned.

He rose his eyebrows. That couldn't be healthy.

He could tell by the sound of her voice that her nose was probably killing her. She kept it tilted up, probably hoping it would all drain out.

"Alright. Up." He ordered, sitting the stuff down on her desk. He was pleased to notice the roses still sitting there.

"Alek, I don't think you understand. _Every part of my body hurts._ Seriously." He wouldn't call her tone whining, exactly, but it was pretty close to it.

"Do you want your nose to stop feeling horrible or not?" He asked impatiently.

Her eyes flew open and she evaluated him skeptically, then painstakingly sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

She winced when she stood, and he internally cringed right along with her. He hated seeing her feel so awful.

He took her hand and guided her to her bathroom, turning on the shower before she could protest. Within seconds, steam filled the room.

"That's too hot," she shook her head.

"Are you in there yet? No. Now, do you need help undressing?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

She rose her eyebrows. "Really? Right now?"

"Kidding, kidding. I'm going to go put the ice cream you demanded away before it melts. _Get in._"

He turned and shut the door, grabbing the bag and walking noiselessly down the stairs. Today was going to be interesting.

* * *

><p>Chloe couldn't believe it.<p>

She'd stripped down and slid into the scalding water, and the _second_ she did, her nose started clearing up.

For the first time in roughly twelve hours, she could breathe again.

She relaxed, enjoying the soothing feeling of the water pounding against her back before washing her hair and scrubbing the icky feeling of sick-sweat from her skin, shaving for good measure.

When she was through, she stepped out and brushed her teeth, getting rid of the grimy feel, and toweled off, putting on a fresh pair of pajamas (which basically consisted of a tank top and cotton shorts) and Alec's hoodie again.

Her skin was tinged red from the heat, but she didn't mind. Her nose was finally clear and her head pounded a little less.

Her chest still protested with every breath she took, though, and the air rattled in her throat. Her muscles ached and her throat hurt so badly it practically burned.

She felt like she was living through hazy fog, and her legs trembled as they carried her downstairs. She hadn't eaten a thing in the last few days, feeling the sickness coming on even though her conscious refused to recognize it.

She glanced at the clock; she'd taken a half-hour long shower, and knew her mother would be up and getting ready for work.

Chloe frowned a bit at that. She didn't like being left alone while sick.

But then she remembered; she had Alek to take care of her.

_Oh, boy._

* * *

><p>Alek heard it the second that Meredith King began to move around upstairs. He kept clattering around the kitchen, putting the stuff he'd brought over up, and searching for a bowl to warm up the soup in.<p>

He kept himself preoccupied, dumping salt and pepper into the bowl as well to give it a little extra flavor, when he heard the footsteps on the stairs.

"Um. Hi." The woman's shocked voice called out to him, and he turned with a winning smile on his face.

"Good morning, Mrs. K. Not the most traditional breakfast I know, but I didn't think Chloe would want something that required a lot of swallowing."

Her eyebrows rose. "Chloe invited you over here?"

Alek smiled again. "Not exactly."

Meredith clearly did not know what to say to this.

Alek sighed. "Alright. Chloe called earlier to say she couldn't meet me later today because she was sick, and I couldn't stand the thought of her being miserable all by herself. So I came over under the guise of bringing her food."

Meredith softened a little at that. "Well, you're a very good friend, Alek. I presume Chloe let you in?"

There was that bloody word again. _Friend._

"No, actually. You people should really learn to lock your windows." He tried to keep his face straight, and Meredith looked shocked for a moment before letting out a disbelieving chuckle.

"Ha! Cute. Now scoot, I want to make an omelet."

Alek quickly stepped out of her way, sitting the bowl on the counter. He heard Chloe begin to trudge downstairs, coughing.

She paused, seeing her mother and Alek getting along quite well. He sat down on one of the bar stools, and she shook her head a bit before coming to plop down next to him, in front of the bowl.

"How you feelin', kiddo?" Meredith asked, peering at her daughter over her coffee cup.

"Like I jumped out of a plane without a parachute on. And then got ran over." Chloe muttered, and Alek snickered under his breath. She glared at him.

Meredith turned her gaze to Alek, rolling her eyes. "Gotta love how melodramatic she is."

"I'm sitting _right here_," Chloe snapped, before succumbing to another coughing fit.

Unable to help himself, he reached out and rubbed her back soothingly until it was over. She'd tied her damp hair back in a braid, and the tiny pieces around her face that had managed to escape were already drying and kinking up into curls.

"Ugh," she groaned, burying her head in her arms in exhaustion.

Alek frowned.

Meredith watched this little exchange with worry clear in her eyes. "Are you going to be okay while I'm at work today?"

Chloe said something unintelligible, taking a shallow breath that was supposed to have been deep. Then she raised her head. "I'll be fine. It's just the stupid flu. Go to work before you're late and you get fired, and then we have to live in a cardboard box."

Meredith smiled a tiny bit at that. "Cardboard boxes are very fashionable this time of year."

Chloe rolled her eyes.

"I'd be happy to stay here with her if you're worried, Mrs. King," he offered. He was on Uniter duty all day today anyway. Jasmine didn't take over until late tonight.

Meredith glanced at Alek sharply. "You've had a flu shot, right?"

Before I could answer, Chloe protested in a croaky voice. "Mom! I can't stay here all day with _Alek_!"

"Why not? What'd he do?" She asked, like he wasn't sitting right there.

Chloe didn't answer, just sulked in her seat.

Doubts began to fill Alek's head. What if she really didn't want him here? What if she already had plans with that human of hers?

What if _the human_ were here all day feebly trying to take care of _his_ Chloe while he was forced to sit outside and observe his horrendous, miserable failures of attempts?

"If you want me to call in, I can-"

Chloe looked up, and suddenly Alek knew; she didn't want her mother to leave her while she was sick.

He melted a little, though he'd rather be the Uniter himself and die nine times before he admitted it.

He reached underneath the counter top and brushed his fingers against her soft thigh a few times. She stiffened and glanced down, then looked at him. He offered her a tiny smile.

"No, Mom, it's okay." Chloe shook her head. "I'll be fine with Alek, he'll take good care of me."

Chloe's mother hesitated. "Are you sure?"

"Of course."

She turned towards him next. "Alek, you don't have to stay if-"

"Of course I do. What kind of _friend_ would I be if I didn't?" He tried not to let the bitterness shine through.

"Well… if you're both sure…" Meredith trailed off, waiting on their confirming nods. "Alright, then. Chloe, I'll be home during my lunch break to check on you, okay? Answer if I call."

"You got it," Chloe nodded, and Meredith was about to kiss her forehead when she started coughing again.

"Ugh. Have fun, Alek." She grimaced, and Alek smiled politely at her, waving her away.

"Love you!" Chloe called, a little desperately.

"Implied!"

She desolately turned on her stool to face the steamy bowl. She picked up a spoon and plunked it in, sniffing at it when she brought it back out.

"Okay, I _know_ it's tomato, but I can't smell a thing." She huffed.

Alek's eyebrows shot up. She was sick enough that even her super-strong Mai senses were hindered?

A sense of dread settled into his chest, and refused to be dislodged.

* * *

><p>"You can't do that!"<p>

"Yes, actually, I can."

"Check the rules. _Check _them. It clearly states-"

"That if the card has _this_ symbol on it, the next player- also known as _you_- must push that button until the blasted thing spits out cards."

He'd beaten her sixteen times at Uno Attack. _In a row._ Chloe was about to absolutely lose it. She'd already had to control the urge to whip out her claws, spider-monkey across the table, and tackle him to the ground.

He was such a _cocky, arrogant son of a bitch._

She remembered the way he'd comforted her this morning, though, before her mom left, remembered the soup he'd made her and the way he'd rubbed her back when she was coughing up both lungs.

She felt a little bad for thinking that right now (she was sure he'd do something to reassure her statement later).

She sighed. "Fine. Whatever."

The stupid thing only gave her two cards anyway, and they were the cards she used to _finally_ win.

* * *

><p>"Which movie?"<p>

"You pick."

"You're the sick one, King. Get your arse over here and pick one out."

She sighed, winced at the feeling of the air scraping against her raw throat, and scooted off the couch to the shelf of DVDs.

She browsed through, and finally picked up _Lilo and Stitch._

Alek arched an eyebrow at her. "Seriously?"

"You said I could pick."

He sighed and rubbed a hand across his face. "Couldn't you at least pick a _good_ cartoon?"

She rolled her eyes and put it back, pulling out _The Lion King_ instead.

"You just _love_ irony, don't you?" He asked, reaching up to turn the television on.

It was on a news station, and two words on the headlines at the bottom caught Chloe's attention: _**Coit Tower**_.

Her eyes widened as she listened to the news anchor rattle off the report.

"It appears that someone actually _has_ been pushed off the tower this time around. Authorities got the call around ten this morning, and were reluctant to follow up after false reports of a girl being thrown off a couple of months ago. They arrived on the scene to find-"

Alek had changed the channel to the one that would play the DVD, and was staring at her with an incomprehensible expression.

Chloe blinked several times, trying to get rid of the flashbacks that assaulted her; running through the trees, the feeling of being stalked, the way her heart had beat out of her chest and her breath hadn't come fast enough.

The feeling of falling, falling, falling, and then the crushing impact, the intense pain before everything had gone black.

She launched herself into an intense coughing fit to cover the tears in her eyes.

"Geez, Chloe," Alek whistled when she was through. "You sure you don't have anything more serious? Like, _terminal lung cancer_?"

Every inch of her hurt, and her chest ached every time she took a breath, and now her throat was stinging again.

There was a softness in his eyes that hadn't been there since this morning. "You okay?"

She knew he meant about more than the illness.

"I'm fine. I'm really tired," she said softly, scooting back to lean her head against the couch. She shoved a pillow behind her back for good measure. "You pick."

He looked away, then grabbed _Lilo and Stitch_ again. "I'm in the mood for some alien action, myself."

* * *

><p>Meredith got to the house exactly five minutes after she got off work for lunch.<p>

Alek looked up from ESPN, glaring at the woman making all the clatter with her keys and her heels and her bags.

He waved at her to get her attention, and a smile grew on her face when she saw him, but he snapped at her and pointed to the girl sleeping on his chest.

Halfway through the movie, he'd convinced her to get up off the hard floor, and she'd complied, leaning back against him between his legs.

He'd kept trying to get her to fall asleep; he knew she was exhausted after being up all last night. She finally had about half an hour ago.

Meredith's eyes widened in understanding, and she made a facial expression that just _screamed_ _**Awwee, isn't that cute?**_

"How long has she been out?" She asked quietly, stepping out of her shoes and coming over to the couch to smooth hair out of her daughter's face.

"Not long. I've been trying to get her to rest all day. Stubborn one, your daughter." Alek avoided meeting Meredith's eyes, and instead focused on Chloe, and how her body nestled perfectly against his.

"She always has such a hard time sleeping when she's sick…" She mused, biting her lip. "Have you ate? I brought some extra sandwiches back from Subway."

"Sounds great, thanks," Alek nodded. He hadn't thought about lunch. Chloe hadn't eaten anything except the bowl of soup this morning.

Suddenly he felt like a pretty lousy caretaker.

_But still better than the human._

"No problem. I owe you, anyways. Turkey, ham, or pepperoni?"

"Doesn't matter, I'm not picky." He shot her a grateful smile, and turned the volume down on the TV.

Chloe's breathing became rattled, and she frowned in her sleep. She sniffled a bit, and coughed.

_Oh no. You are __**not**__ waking up yet. _

"Shhhh. Back to sleep, Chloe." He whispered, and she whimpered against him.

"Can't," she managed, and coughed some more. "Throat hurts too much."

She slurred the words, on the edge of awake and asleep.

Alek grabbed at her water bottle that she'd left sitting on the coffee table, unscrewed the cap and held it up for her to drink. Her slim fingers wrapped around his, and she took several gulps before fluttering her eyes back closed, laying her head back on his chest. She sighed, then dropped back off into oblivion.

Alek put the water bottle back, and turned his head to see Meredith staring at the two of them.

Feeling awkward suddenly, Alek asked "What?"

"Nothing," Meredith shook her head jerkily. "Nothing. Here." She handed him his sandwich (Foot long. Good woman), and then rifled through the fridge to find him a soda.

"Thanks, this is great. So, how's work?" Anything to get the spotlight off of him and Chloe.

"It's okay. Boss man has some big assignment he wants to talk to me about later, though." Meredith rolled her eyes in the exact same way Chloe did.

"Do you not like him?"

Meredith hesitated, and Alek cursed himself. "Sorry! If I'm being too nosy..."

She smiled. "No, that's not it. It's just that I'm so used to Amy and Paul already knowing everything that it's strange, having someone here who doesn't know the details already. Speaking of, have those two come by today?"

Alek shook his head. "Nope. Chloe's phone is upstairs as far as I know, I haven't seen her check it all day. So we haven't heard from anyone." Meredith had called the house phone earlier to check in, not Chloe's cell phone.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he hadn't checked his all day either. Shit.

"I'll go get it, she'll probably want it when she wakes up," Meredith went upstairs, and Alek pulled his phone out from his back pocket.

There were four messages from Valentina:

_**Sorry to hear Chloe is sick. You better be taking care of her. I'll be checking in. **_

_**How is she? **_

_**Alek, answer me. **_

_**I swear, if you weren't one of the best… And my nephew… **_

She'd sent that last one not two minutes ago. He quickly scrawled out a reply.

_**Sorry Aunt Val, I've been taking care of Chloe all day. She's pretty miserable. I'll keep you updated. **_

The reply didn't take two seconds.

_**You better.**_

Alek scowled and stuck his phone back into his pocket, just as Meredith came back into view.

She sat Chloe's phone down on the table next to her water.

"You need anything before I head back out?"

Alek wrapped his pinky around one of Chloe's curls absently. "No, all I need is right here, thanks."

* * *

><p>Chloe woke up freezing.<p>

She was shivering, trembling against her pillow, and she ached worse than ever. Her nose was stuffy again, and she couldn't breathe through it, but it killed her throat to breathe through her mouth.

She sat up, feeling the rush of fever inside her.

She blinked, feeling incredibly groggy. Where was Alek…?

She heard running water and turned towards the sink. He was there, with several wet washcloths on the counter next to him.

She frowned. "What-"

Her voice seemed to startle him. "Chloe! Damn, you woke up."

She didn't know quite what to make of this, so she just sat there, drawing his hoodie tighter around her and shuddering.

"Your fever spiked, big time," he elaborated. "Don't you people keep aspirin or Advil or _anything_ in this house?"

She suddenly knew what the cloths were for, and couldn't help her rush of affection. She managed a tiny smile. "Top left cabinet."

He searched and instantly found the small bottle of pills. He tossed it to her, and she downed at least three, even though that was probably more than recommended.

He went to the fridge and wrapped ice cubes in one of the cloths and came back to her. He maneuvered himself back behind her, and she tried not to blush. He guided her body to lean back against his, like it had been when she was sleeping.

His heat was delicious, washing over her in waves.

"Take this off," he commanded, tugging at the sleeve on the hoodie.

"What? No! I'm freezing." She protested, holding back more coughs.

"That wasn't a request, King." He growled, and she felt something coil deep within her, hotter than her fever, than her blood, than her cheeks when Brian complimented her…

She shrugged it off her shoulders, and he tossed it out of her reach. She trembled violently now, feeling the air assault her.

Funny, how you felt like you were freezing when you were really burning up.

"Oh, geez," she whimpered when she felt the cold wetness of the cloth against her forehead. Her entire body tensed, making her sore muscles rebel within her.

"Shhhh. Just relax. Didn't the doctors give you antibiotics?"

She focused on slowly relaxing before answering him. "No. Just a prescription for some heavy duty cough syrup. They said they couldn't since they didn't know what it was, exactly."

_Bloody fucking doctors._

He'd slaughter every one of them.

The door slammed open and Meredith stomped in, then shoved it roughly closed behind her. She threw her purse down on the counter.

Was it time for her to be home already?

A quick glance at the clock told him it was already five thirty in the afternoon.

"_UUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH._"

Chloe frowned and twisted her head on his shoulder to look at her mother. "Mom? What's wrong?"

"I hate my boss. _Hate him._ The arrogant, inconsiderate, heartless di-"

"Mom!" Chloe reprimanded.

Meredith huffed, plopping down in a chair across from them. "Well! He is!"

Alek had to bury his face in the couch cushions at his side to muffle his laughter.

"Uh huh. Laugh it up, Alek." Meredith muttered, which made him laugh even harder.

Chloe sneezed, then coughed.

Meredith gave her a half smile. "How you feeling, kiddo? You slept right through my lunch break."

"Sorry," Chloe apologized. She hated that she'd missed her mother.

"No, no, I'm glad you did. You definitely needed the rest." Meredith waved her off. "Anyways. Guess what the idiot told me I had to do."

"What?" Chloe asked.

"He told me I had to go to _Colorado_ to file some paperwork on some property out there that clients from here are buying_._"

"…Okay?"

"_This weekend._"

"Oh."

"Yeah. So when I told him where he could stick the plane ticket, he said if I didn't go, I was fired. He didn't even _care_ that I had an extremely sick child at home with absolutely no one else to look after her."

Alek cleared his throat.

Meredith glanced at him. "No offense, Alek. You've been so great to Chloe today."

Chloe was quiet for a moment, then glanced back at her mother. "Mom, you have to go. You can't just get fired."

Meredith's mouth fell open in indignation with a little _pop_. "Chloe King! What kind of mother would I be if I left you here for a whole weekend by yourself while _deathly ill_?"

Chloe sighed. "Mom, I'm not _deathly ill_. I'll recover. I promise."

Alek wondered what her mother would say if she knew Chloe had fell roughly 200 feet and sort-of-kind-of lived to tell the tale.

* * *

><p>In the end, Meredith had to go.<p>

Chloe knew she would all along, and was just as upset, if not more so, than her mother about it, but there was nothing to be done.

"I'll call as soon as I land. And about a million more times after that." She promised on her way out the door.

It didn't make Chloe feel any better.

Actually, she was feeling _worse_ all around.

Her fever had barely gone down, and she was actually starting to get pretty dizzy.

"When are you leaving?" She asked Alek.

He scoffed. "Leaving?"

"Yeah. You know. Exiting the building. Getting out of here. _Leaving._" She refused to admit she didn't want him to go.

"That's a horrible joke. Really, you should work on that."

She stared at him doubtfully. "What, are you gonna stay here all weekend?"

There was a mischievous, playful glint in his eyes, and she really wished she'd kept her mouth shut.

* * *

><p>Valentina had sent Jasmine over early, just for good measure. The Uniter was too important; she had to be protected in her weakened state. Everyone knew assassins liked to attack in the night.<p>

_Yeah_, Chloe thought bitterly. _Tell that to Scarface. He pushed me off a freaking building in the middle of broad daylight_.

Still, she felt better knowing that Alek and Jasmine were here for her.

She'd had nine text messages from Amy and Paul when she'd finally checked her phone.

_**Good morning! Or should I say afternoon lol? - Amy**_

_**Why rn't you replying? **__**L - Amy**_

_**Hey- Paul **_

_**Chloe, I'm going 2 get rly worried! - Amy **_

_**OMG, ALEK ISN'T ANSWERING HIS PHONE EITHER. WTF. - Amy **_

_**Uhhh, Chloe? - Paul **_

_**Wait. R u with Alek? Are u 2 like, TOGETHER rite now? I want deets later. Lots. Specifically, juicy ones. Ok, txt me later. Srsly. - Amy **_

_**You know, as your sidekick, I really need to be in contact with you at all times. - Paul**_

The other two texts were from Brian.

_**Why good morning. ;) **_

…_**Why aren't you answering? Did I do something wrong? **_

Chloe felt a stab of irritation at that. Brian was always so incredibly insecure and needy. It was like he was terrified for her to be upset with him in any way. Even when he'd introduced her to his "friend", he'd had guilt written all over his face.

Was it so wrong to want a bit of confidence?

She shot a quick text to Amy (_**Yes, I was with Alek, but I'm extremely sick. Don't come over, you could catch it, you haven't had the flu shot yet. No details to report other than that he can make pretty awesome soup.**_), then another to Paul (_**Sorry Paul, I've been sick all day and haven't been around my phone**_), and yet another to Brian. (_**Hey, sorry, I've been busy today. Busy hacking up a lung, that is. I'll text you later.**_)

"How are you feeling?" Jasmine asked, sympathy written all over her face.

Chloe considered this for a moment. "Like I could really use another shower. I'll be back." She scooted off the couch and went upstairs, her legs wobbly underneath her the whole way.

Her hearing had faded and her sense of smell was completely gone. She felt incredibly weak and vulnerable. She strained her ears for any hint of an intruder, twisting the shower on.

She didn't even think twice about the phone she'd left downstairs.

* * *

><p>The incessant buzzing was driving Alek nuts.<p>

Chloe had been receiving text after text while she was in the shower. Really, it was rather irresponsible not to read them. So many unread messages could result in a full inbox, and that would be bad. What if Valentina needed to contact her for something and the message couldn't get through?

That was all the excuse Alek needed to grab the phone and open each of them.

_**Hey kiddo! Just landed. Two and a half hours on a plane has me beat. I love you! I hope you're feeling better. I'm crashing now, text me in the morning? **_

At least Meredith had made it to Colorado just fine. He typed back a quick, vague response just so Meredith could go to bed without worrying why Chloe wasn't responding.

_**Awwweeee! He's taking care of u when ur sick and u 2 rn't even officially dating? That is the sweetest thing ever. Too bad they don't make hot nurse outfits for guys like they do 4 us gurls. ;) - Amy**_

Alek smirked. A lot.

_**Oh. I hope you feel better soon. We've got to get back to kicking butt and taking names! - Paul**_

Did he mean watching Chloe kick ass while standing on the sidelines and trying not to shriek in fear?

Alek tensed when he saw the last name. _Brian_. Stupid human.

_**Sorry to hear you're feeling bad. You need anything? **_

Alek needed a few things. Namely, a spacious car trunk and some bleach.

He sighed and put the phone down where he'd found it, marking Amy, Paul, and the human's messages as unread so Chloe wouldn't find out the extent of his snooping.

Not that he considered it snooping. Not at all.

* * *

><p>"Maybe some fresh air would do you good," Jasmine suggested when Saturday morning dawned.<p>

Chloe just stared at her. She was utterly miserable. She felt like she had the fucking plague. The last thing she wanted was to _go outside._ Where there were _bugs. _And heat.

"No. No way." She was just going to sit inside and wallow all day.

"Come on, you don't have to go far." Jasmine prodded.

"I'll take you up to the roof." Alek offered.

Chloe was about to protest again when she remembered; she and Alek had kissed on that roof. It was basically one of _their_ spots. (She didn't allow herself to think of the fact that it was completely absurd to have a "spot" with Alek.)

"Okay fine." She grumbled, and Jasmine smiled in success.

Alek smirked and took her hand, leading her up the steps, into her room, and through the window.

Black spots danced in front of her vision as she hoisted herself onto the roof, and the world around her began to spin. Her breathing became labored, and she allowed herself a minor coughing fit, followed by a sneeze.

"Damn. You look even worse in this light." Alek observed, scanning her from head to toe.

Chloe scowled and looked away.

"Chloe. Come on. You know I didn't mean it like that." He said softly, tilting his head to gaze at her.

"Yeah whatever," she muttered and sat down in an effort to make her head stop feeling like it was about to float off her shoulders.

Carefully, she planted her feet flat against the roof so she wouldn't slide and laid back, staring up at the clear blue sky. There were no clouds whatsoever, and she was glad she hadn't donned the hoodie today since it was so warm out.

She felt Alek settle in next to her, and shifted unconsciously towards him. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, ignoring the itch in her chest and throat that made her want to cough.

"The sun feels really nice. I'm glad Jasmine suggested this." She finally said, because the silence was becoming a bit much to bear.

"Bastet was the daughter of Ra, you know." Alek said conversationally. "The sun god."

A sense of peace seemed to rush through her at the mention of the goddess. She smiled and relaxed. "Really?"

"Yeah. A bit strange when you think about it."

Chloe imagined the sands of Egyptian deserts, imagined the pyramids straining towards the sky, straight and tall. She imagined the Nile gliding through the land like a liquid ribbon, imagined the amulets and charms. She thought of what it would have been like to have stood guard over the pharaoh, to have lived in one of the huge palaces with them.

"Not really all that strange."

Alek seemed to be following her line of thinking. "There's a story, you know. More of a myth, really. Very Romeo and Juliet."

"Tell me!"

"I don't know… you're very passionate about these sort of things. Telling you might make you cry, which might make you even more ill."

"Alek!"

He laughed. "Alright, alright. I'll tell you."

Chloe waited.

"By the time Ramses the third was pharaoh, the Mai and humans had already begun the process of a falling out. He wasn't particularly fond of the Mai, and even looked down on them, but he saw the advantages of having them around as bodyguards, so he kept them on to protect himself and his family."

Alek paused a moment before going on. "He assigned one Mai to each of his daughters, and his eldest ended up falling in love with her Mai protector, and he with her."

"I thought that Mai and humans can't be together," I interrupted him, frowning.

"They can't. It's supposedly a curse Bastet bestowed upon us for breaking up with the humans. I personally think it's just evolution. Defense of the purity of the species- genetics, ya know?"

Chloe digested this. "Okay. Go on."

"Right. So the daughter and the Mai go to Ramses and beg for his blessing. Instead, he's furious, and he forbids the marriage. So they elope. They didn't get very far before they were captured, and Ramses sentenced the Mai to death. This didn't exactly bode well with the Mai race, so they kidnapped the daughter and killed her, and attempted to assassinate Ramses and failed."

Chloe wasn't entirely sure how to feel about all this. Yes, it was awful and tragic, but what did they think they were doing? They were too different. They had it coming. He belonged with a Mai girl, and she belonged with a human boy. Their poor children, if they ever had any, would've come with no telling what kind of genetic mutation.

Not to mention she was the pharaoh's oldest daughter. She had a duty to fulfill. How could she just turn her back on her people like that?

In her hazy, sickly state, she realized with a jolt that the same logic applied to herself and Brian.

She really didn't want to think about that.

So instead she focused on the car horns and the other noises of the city all around her. She focused on the tweets of birds and of the rustle of wind in the trees.

And she focused on the feel of Alek next to her.

* * *

><p>Chloe didn't make it all the way across her room that night.<p>

She'd taken her shower for the day and was about to get dressed and call her mother to see how Mission Colorado was going. Her brain was so incredibly foggy, and she could feel the blisters in the back of her throat. Her skin radiated an intense heat from her fever, and she was more sore than the time she and Amy had went on a health kick and exercised for six hours straight one day.

She felt so dizzy. So, so dizzy. Then came the black spots, getting larger and thicker until she could no longer see a thing. She felt her legs tremble and shake with the effort of holding herself up, and she frantically reached out for the wall to catch herself, but there was no wall there.

She crumpled to the floor and laid there, floating somewhere dark that seemed incredibly quiet and noisy all at once.

"_Chloe!_ Oh my God, Jasmine! Call Valentina!"

Alek. Alek would help her. Alek had gotten beat up by Kai's family for her. Alek had saved her and those she cared about time and time again.

He'd been so sweet lately. So kind and caring and attentive while she was so icky and sick.

She felt something incredibly akin to loss as she realized that when she was better, he probably wouldn't act like this anymore.

He wouldn't care anymore. Not really.

_But the Kai incident… _

Strong arms picked her up, placed her on her bed. She sighed.

"I don't know, she just collapsed." Jasmine. On the phone to Valentina, no doubt.

Chloe wanted to say something, to reassure them she was okay, but she couldn't remember how to make her vocal chords work.

She felt so weak. So helpless. She couldn't even extend her claws.

"What kind of medication did the doctor give her?" Jasmine's voice was quiet now, addressing Alek.

"They didn't. They had no clue what was even wrong with her."

Several seconds, and then: "Mom's on her way."

That was all Chloe knew before everything faded completely away.

* * *

><p>Alek was more terrified than he'd ever been in his entire life.<p>

He was more scared now than he had been in the Order raid. More scared than he'd been when he'd been in the orphanage, more scared than he'd been when the strange couple took him home.

He was more scared than when his hands had started to grow claws and he'd been able to see better in the dark than he could in the middle of the day.

He was more scared than when his parents had totally _flipped the fuck out_ and sent him across an ocean alone to live with an aunt and cousin he'd never met but apparently had.

He was more scared now than he'd ever been in any fight.

Chloe was _not_ moving, was _not_ responding to anything he or Jasmine did, and he was seriously about to _hyperventilate _if someone did not do _something_ to get her to open those beautiful eyes of hers.

"Chloe! Chloe, come on, wake up!" He pleaded, brushed her hair out of her face, shook her gently.

"Alek, don't. Just wait on Mom." Jasmine's voice was tight, and her entire body was taut with worried tension.

Valentina got there around thirty minutes after they'd called. It was around nine at night now. What if Meredith called soon to check in?

Jasmine shifted out of the way to let Valentina closer, but Alek didn't move. He wouldn't.

Valentina didn't seem to mind. "Alek, get behind her and hold her head. Make sure she doesn't move when I wake her, or she could get dizzy and faint again."

Wake her? She was unresponsive to anything he tried.

Then Valentina pulled some smelling salts from her pocket, and Alek almost fainted himself from pure relief. Of course. Typical, practical Valentina move.

She waved them under Chloe's nose, and Alek put both hands on either side of her face, her head on his lap. Nothing happened at first, and the knot of nerves inside him grew, but then Chloe began to frown and her nose wrinkled.

She came to gasping, panting almost, coughing and shaking. Tears streamed from her eyes, which he promptly wiped away.

"Shhh, Chloe. You're alright." He whispered. Jasmine echoed his sentiments from the foot of the bed.

Even Valentina, perpetual Ice Queen, broke down and rubbed Chloe's leg soothingly.

"What happened?" She croaked, one hand coming up to rub the side of her head, probably where she'd hit the floor.

Walking in to see her crumpled there like that had been so horrible.

"You blacked out," Jasmine said.

Chloe moaned.

"Chloe, the doctors didn't know what was wrong with you?" Valentina questioned, and Alek had to use all of his self control not to whip out his claws and hiss at her. How dare she question her like that when she was so sick?

"No," Chloe croaked. Alek looked towards Jasmine and made a drinking motion. She nodded and scurried out the door.

"Well, I think I do."

Alek's head whipped around to stare at her.

"Mai transformations are a gradual thing. They can take up to two years to come in fully. A person's body has time to get used to their new changes, and their training gets tougher over time. Your transformation, however, took a couple of _days_, and you've been training hard nonstop. I remembered reading about something like this in a book about the Mai once. It's extremely rare, but not unheard of, for someone's transformation to take place as quickly as yours. This illness is your body's reaction to changing so quickly, and training so hard. It's all started to catch up with you," Valentina explained.

"How long will it last?" Chloe asked.

"I think this was the peak. So it should be completely out of your system by this time tomorrow."

"Thank God." Chloe sighed.

I rubbed the spot between her shoulder blades, moved down to her lower back. I was just so glad she was awake now.

Jasmine returned with her water. Chloe downed it all in one gulp, wincing as she swallowed.

Valentina's eyes met Alek's, and then Jasmine's. "Will the two of you be alright to take care of her tonight?"

"Absolutely," Jasmine said confidently. I didn't answer, just stared down at Chloe, stroking her back, brushing her hair out of the way, studying the way her body bent and her chest rose and fell with her struggled breaths.

"Alright. Call me if anything else drastic happens." She left the salts, and was gone.

* * *

><p><em>Something was burning. <em>

_Smoke, thick and black, billowed through the air. Screaming came from all directions, and fire danced against the black night sky. _

_Chloe sat in the middle of her floor, the flames licking all around her, consuming the walls of her house and the furniture. _

_Someone scooped her up. Someone that was certainly not her __**matinka **__or her __**tato.**_ _They ran with her, ducking behind burning buildings and cars, slithering through alleyways. Loud booms that Chloe somehow knew as gunshots echoed all around, and there was the sound of metal on metal. People fighting. _

_She was so scared. _

_She clung to the mysterious person until there was another boom, and he fell, and didn't get back up. _

_And eventually Chloe was all alone with the fire and the smoke, and there were no more screams._

* * *

><p><em>She was shivering on the ground, and there was no one there. Muffled whimpers sounded from all around her. Someone coughed several times. Another person was wheezing. A newborn sobbed somewhere. <em>

_The thin blankets and the barely-there cot did nothing to insulate her heat, and her nose ran and clogged every few minutes. She kept coughing. _

_Her muscles ached, and the people here didn't speak like the people at home did. Some of the adults didn't even know her name. They just called her girl. _

_She huddled in the corner of the chain link fence when she and the other children were forced to go outside. She didn't like them. They weren't like her. They were dirty and messy and loud and mean and they couldn't count to ten or recite their alphabet. _

_A man and several others walked by her spot, on the other side of the fence, on the street. She didn't know this town. She didn't know where she was at all. _

_The man was talking, but when he saw her, he came to an abrupt halt. His eyes widened, and he grinned at her. _

_Tears welled up in her eyes. No one smiled on her side of the fence. _

_She begged. "Help me. Please. Help help help help help-"_

* * *

><p>"<em>Chloe, help!" <em>

_She was back in the fire and the smoke, and more bullets were being shot. A car exploded down the street. _

_She saw a dark shape running with a child in his arms. A two, almost three year old little girl. _

_**Herself.**_

_She started to take off after them, leaping over fallen bodies and debris. She thought she recognized some of the frozen faces, but she couldn't place them, didn't know how in the world she knew them. _

"_Chloe, help!" There was the voice again. Alek. _

"_Alek?" Chloe called, stopping, and fear stronger than any she had ever experienced bit through her when she saw the white-clad people marching down the street, systematically fighting others with claws and lightening fast reflexes, striking them down one by one. _

_The man and the little girl disappeared around a corner, and Chloe felt a sharp pang of grief because she knew what would happen to the poor man and the defenseless child… _

"_Chloe!" _

_Chloe whirled, and there was Alek, fighting the Order along with everyone else. _

_The Order had strange weapons; bombs and automatics, long swords that impaled two or three warriors at a time. _

_The Mai here weren't prepared for this at all. _

_Chloe rushed over and joined in, kicking and clawing and snarling. _

_Alek had her back. She had his. _

_Kai and his jackal family, and other jackals they knew joined the Order then, fangs dripping with blood. _

_Chloe was forced to watch Alek getting beaten over and over again like he had when he'd protected her, but against this new backdrop of pitch black night and fire and smoke and carnage, it was a thousand times worse. _

_Suddenly, she was thrown onto her back, and she knew if she died now, she wouldn't wake up at all. _

_Next to her laid Brian. Blood dripped from his eyes and his forehead, seeped through the tuxedo he had worn the night of the art gala. Chloe screamed. _

"_A fish might love a bird, but where would they live?" He asked. _

"_Chloe!" _

_Chloe twisted her neck around, and there was Alek, beaten and raw, laying next to her. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, and the fire was so hot all around her it made her sweat. _

_She realized suddenly that she was sobbing. _

_Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a woman with her hair and a man with her eyes get impaled by the same sword. _

_She was kicked, twisted onto her back by an Order member, and she barely had time to grab Alek's hand and witness a flash of white cloth and silver metal before it bit into her neck, her back- _

* * *

><p>"Chloe!"<p>

Chloe's eyes flew open and she gasped, sucking in air desperately.

She sat straight up and sobbed hard, coughing and hacking. Where was she?

_Where was Alek?_

"A-a-alek? Al-"

She couldn't catch her breath. Her head pounded and she was sweating, her skin like fire to the touch. She could still smell the smoke and the way her muscles ached seem to be an effect of being thrust into the ground.

The sting in her throat and the coughs that kept coming reminded her of the orphanage. _The orphanage._ She had never allowed herself to believe that those were actual memories. But now she knew that they were.

She was spiraling into a deep abyss of emotions and disorientation and illness from which there was no escape, and she-

"Chloe! Chloe, look at me."

Suddenly, Alek was right there, and she realized it had been his voice that jarred her out of her nightmare. Realized that she was in her living room, safe. Alek had made her sleep on the couch, next to his spot on the floor, and Jasmine's on the recliner, so that they could keep an eye on her throughout the night.

"Alek-"

"Shhhh. Shhh, darling, I'm right here. You're alright." His hands were on her face, stroking her cheeks, wiping her tears away.

She crawled over her mess of blankets and settled into his lap, pressing herself against him and burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"I want to get better," she cried in a whisper, careful not to wake the other Mai girl up. Jasmine had been looking extra tired lately.

Chloe didn't feel like a strong Mai warrior herself right now though. She didn't feel like the Uniter. She didn't even really feel like Chloe. All she felt was sick.

"I know. I know."

"I can't stand this."

"Shhh…"

"It's just like the orphanage. It's just like being there." Her voice broke.

The memories were fragmented and dream-like, like most of her memories were before age five. But they were memories all the same, and there was no denying that truth now.

Alek froze against her. "You can remember…?"

"Yes."

He let out a shaky breath, was hesitant for a moment before whispering, "I can, too."

He'd never told anyone that, and he'd certainly never meant to tell the quivering girl in his arms.

This quivering, perfect, beautiful angel of a girl. What would she think now that she knew he wasn't made of steel?

Chloe could sense the change in the air. The past seemed to hang there in the air with them.

"Were you ever sick? In the orphanage?"

Her voice came out meek and timid. Two things Chloe King had never been.

"Always."

His came out mournful, which shocked him. It almost always came out bitter and slightly sarcastic when he talked about this. Which he rarely ever did, anyway.

She swallowed, and found that her throat hurt slightly less than it did two hours ago. But only slightly.

"Alek… When I'm not sick anymore, will you still call me darling?" She recalled thinking something along those lines right before she fainted earlier.

Alek grinned, glad that her face was hidden so that she couldn't see his joy at her question. "Do you like it when I call you darling?"

Chloe was very still and very quiet.

"Well? Do you?"

"So what if I do?" Ah. There was the Chloe-tone he knew and loved.

He smiled again, turning his head to press a kiss against the top of hers. "I'll call you darling even when you get better."

* * *

><p>Chloe had pancakes and eggs and bacon for breakfast on Sunday. Alek whipped them up for her in no time, and they smelled so good.<p>

Her senses were finally coming back to her. Her nose was still irritating as hell, and her throat hurt, but no worse than with a really bad cold. Her aches had eased up some, and she no longer had a headache.

Her coughs no longer turned into fits; they were just coughs.

Valentina had been right. It would be completely out of her system by tonight.

"I can _smeeellll._" Chloe moaned, holding her nose right above her plate and taking several deep breaths.

Alek snorted, watching her with fond amusement. "Are you going to eat it or stick your face in it?"

"Maybe both." Chloe shrugged.

Alek smirked, and came around the counter to stand behind her. He leaned down, pressing his chest to her back, and pressed his lips against her ear.

"I could help you lick it all off, if you wanted."

Chloe shivered.

He chuckled somewhat manically.

"You're such a dork," she said when he was a safe distance away.

He was about to retort when Jasmine emerged from downstairs, freshly showered and ready to head home.

"I'm glad to see you feeling better, Chloe," she said, bending a little to give her a hug.

Chloe returned the affectionate squeeze. "Thanks. Tell Valentina I say hello."

"Sure. See you later, Alek." Jasmine gave a little wave and then slipped out the front door.

Chloe's phone buzzed.

_**Hey kiddo! Flight home leaves around six tonight, so I'll be home a little before nine! Can't wait to see you! **_

Chloe smiled at her mother's message.

* * *

><p>"So," Alek said, when she was finished eating, "what would you like to do today?"<p>

Chloe stretched and felt her muscles hum underneath her skin. She wasn't built to remain lethargic for so long. She could feel the sickness draining out of her with every passing minute, and she was tired of wallowing.

"Actually… I want to train." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

Alek's eyebrows shot up. "Are you bloody insane?"

She figured he'd have that reaction. "Come on, Alek, please? I've been cooped up in this house since Thursday. It sucks. And I feel tons better today."

"Chloe, just last night you completely collapsed."

"So? It's a brand new day."

"Chloe…"

"I'll wear a sports bra. With nothing over top." She was trying to be sarcastic, but it probably didn't come out that way. It really wasn't like her to bargain like _that_…

"_Seriously_, Chloe? You honestly think I'd compromise your health for a glimpse of _skin_?" He looked almost offended. Certainly angry.

Chloe faltered. "I was joking, Alek."

He stood there a moment, and then in the blink of an eye, he'd lunged.

So it was hand-to-hand today. Excellent. Chloe's favorite kind.

She jumped to the side, aiming her body downwards while extending her leg, hoping to kick him square in the side. Instead, he grabbed her leg and twisted, and she cried out when she felt herself being spun and hurled onto her back.

_Just like the nightmare._

Extra adrenaline poured into her at the memory and she drew her captured leg closer to her. Alek expected her to kick it back out and try to dislodge him, she knew, so he allowed his body to follow her movements, bringing him closer to her.

She reached up and grabbed the front of his shirt, using her leg and her arms to propel him over top of her. He flipped and landed on his own back with an "oof", his head right next to hers.

She didn't give him time to recover. She rolled, straddled him, and whipped her claws out, holding them against his throat.

She grinned. "Chloe, one. Alek, zero."

And then she coughed.

* * *

><p>The. Suspense. Was. Killing. Him.<p>

Chloe had taken him this morning in their brief duel. They'd settled down after that; Chloe reading a book and Alek listening to her iPod. Then he'd randomly attacked her, and won.

Now it was her turn to strike, and he jumped at every little move she made.

Her phone buzzed on the table and he glared at her arm as she reached out to pick it up. It was because he was watching so carefully that he noticed her eyes widen a little, and then narrow.

"Trouble in paradise?" He asked, assuming it was the human.

She jumped, then shook her head. "It's not Brian."

Then she bit her lip; a dead give-away that she wished that perhaps she hadn't said that. That she should've let him come to his own conclusions.

"Then who is it?"

Chloe was silent, debating on whether or not to tell him. Alek could sense her internal debate, and knew that whoever it was and whatever they'd said was a big deal.

"Chloe… you can trust me." He'd never really said the words out loud before. The trust they had between them had just been built up to the point that it wasn't needed. It was just an emotion. Just there, like the sky was just blue.

Just like the fact that he loved her.

"I haven't told anyone this. Not even Amy, or Paul. Mom only knows because she snooped."

This admission rocked him to his very core. Chloe, keeping secrets from her best friends? This had to be serious.

He waited, and she turned around to face him. She played with her fingers and her phone, not looking at him.

"It's my dad."

The words seemed to hang there for a moment, and no matter how hard he tried, Alek couldn't understand the significance in them.

He knew there was no father here.

He knew she never talked about him.

That was pretty much as far as his knowledge went.

Chloe seemed to sense this, and went on. "He disappeared ten years ago. We haven't heard from him since. But then… the day I transformed… I got an email. From him. And he's been contacting me ever since."

Something painful constricted inside of Alek's chest. Her father had _left_ her. _Abandoned_ her. Something about this made him ache in ways he never knew existed.

But the fact that he had magically reappeared on her transformation date worried him in an entirely different way.

"Do you think he knows you're Mai?"

He expected Chloe to be shocked at the question, but she wasn't. She'd already thought of it herself.

"He knew where I'm from. He was the one that found me in that orphanage, and pulled a lot of strings to get me here in a very short time span. And clearly he's somewhere out there, still looking out for me. He said it wasn't safe… he said I couldn't trust _anyone_." Her face crumpled on the last word, and she bowed her head, and in an instant, Alek was next to her, holding her, whispering comforting words in her ear.

He wondered if all girls got this emotional when they were sick. Wanting her mother to stay with her, the nightmares, now this.

Then he figured that if the physical aspects of becoming Mai had worn her down, the mental and emotional couldn't be that different.

"I mean, what if he left because of _me_?"

She was seriously blaming herself for this man's shortcomings?

Alek tried not to let his rage show, but he did hold her tighter. Fiercer. "Chloe…"

If her father ever showed his face around here again, he would have to answer to Alek.

"Don't I deserve some answers?" She asked, and he was glad she wasn't sobbing, just crying softly.

"Of course you do." He nodded.

"I can't help but wonder if when he said not to trust anyone, it meant _him_, too." She whispered, almost like if she said the words aloud it would make them true.

"If he ever asks you to meet him, I want you to call me. I want to go with you."

He braced himself for a fight.

"…Okay."

He blinked. A lot. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"I just want to protect you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something hap-"

"I know."

"I mean it."

He had scooted farther away from her to stare into her blue eyes. They reminded him of water and the sky and the vague memory of the color his room had been as a toddler, before the Order and the murder of his birth parents and his entire mess of a life.

She made her move then. The sharp, unexpected one he had been expecting since their last spar.

Except instead of blows or claws or defense/offense tactics, she fluttered her eyelashes closed and leaned in quickly, but gently.

She stopped right before her lips met his, whispered, "And I mean this," and then kissed him.

It wasn't like any of their other kisses. Not forced, not hurried, not desperate or tentative, not testing.

It wasn't like any of the other lustful ones he'd shared with girls before her, either.

It was stronger than desire and more than a quest.

He moved his hands to her hair, bringing her closer, cupping her face, and she stroked her palms over his shoulders, her nails digging into his back a bit.

His entire body shuddered, and he leaned backwards without even realizing he was doing it, pulling her with him. Her body followed his willingly, eagerly, and then she was on top of him, every inch of him pressed against every inch of her, and he could feet her heat and her rapid heartbeat thumping out a rhythm against his.

He licked her lips, and she opened her mouth, her tongue meeting his almost shyly.

His entire body felt like it was on fire, and he knew he'd have to stop soon if he ever hoped to regain control over this situation.

He broke away from her, and she gasped for breath. His own lungs felt like they'd burst from lack of oxygen, so he sucked air in as he pressed kisses to her jaw and slid his tongue along her neck and grazed his teeth over her ear.

She trembled and whimpered, and he couldn't help the smirk that slid over his face.

Slowly, the atmosphere winded down.

They laid there in each other's arms the rest of the day.

* * *

><p>Chloe heard the taxi pull up, and rolled out of bed and bounded down the steps. She waited by the door, bouncing in impatience, and then the lock jiggled and the door open.<p>

"Mom!"

"Hey, kiddo! You look so much better!"

"How was Colorado?"

"Boring."

Chloe grabbed a couple of her mother's bags and helped her carry them upstairs.

They ordered Thai takeout and invited Amy over for a movie night.

And when Amy left and Meredith went to bed, Chloe opened her window and called for Alek.

He swung down and into her room, cocking an eyebrow at her in curiosity.

"If you're going to watch out for me, you might as well do it from in here."

She woke up to her Monday morning alarm and another rose on the pillow next to her, right where he'd been lying the night before.

**Okay! Chapter one of three! What do you think? Review please!  
>(Also, the two strange words in the first dream -matinka and tato- mean "mother" and "father" in Ukrainian.)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second chapter! I admit it's somewhat filler, but there has to be a bridge between the first chapter and the beginning of **_**Beautiful Day**_**. (A fact ABC family completely overlooked. How did they get from the end of **_**Responsible **_**to a carnival?) **

Chloe was about to put the rose Alek left her in the vase with the others before she left for school, then reconsidered. She studied herself in the mirror; her red sequined shirt and her jean leggings with the red wedge heels Amy had prodded her into buying. (They were cute, but sturdy enough for her to run and kick in. Not that she had any doubt about her ability to fight in heels after the poker fiasco).

The red on her outfit was the exact color of the rose.

She retrieved the scissors from the desk and carefully cut off all the thorns and a large portion of the stem.

Then she pinned it into her hair, tucking the stem behind her ear.

She drove herself to school, and spotted Alek immediately, surrounded by his worshipful group of jocks. Jasmine sat on the school steps, highlighting something in a notebook. Amy and Paul were in Amy's car making out. Students milled about on the lawn, talking, drinking coffee, grumbling about the fact it was Monday and Trig tests and Spanish vocabulary.

Everything was perfectly normal, except for the fact that it all felt incredibly different. Chloe couldn't put her finger on why a tingle of anticipation was making it's way through her, or why her heartbeat had suddenly sped up.

She slung her bag over her shoulder and slowly made her way over to the school entrance. She snuck glances at Alek as she walked; found herself studying the way the sun made his hair turn golden, the way he moved with such confidence and grace.

He seemed to sense her eyes on him, and he looked up and straight at her, mouth curling into a smirk when he saw the rose in her hair.

She felt a blush rise into her cheeks and was about to look away when he waved her over. "Chloe!"

All of his friends turned to stare at her, and she hesitated before making her way over to them.

"Hi." She said timidly, uncertainly.

She had thought the dynamic between them had changed over the weekend, and maybe it had, but that was Mai/ Real Life world. This was School world, where they were too different, from two different cliques. Would he still want…?

He reached out for her and drew her to his side, enveloping her in a warm hug. (_God, he smelled __**so**__ good_). "Mmm. Morning, darling. Sleep well?"

There was a joking glint in his eye; of course he knew how she had slept. He'd been right next to her.

Heat rushed through her at his words, and she felt her entire body become lighter. He had called her _darling._ (Better: he had called her darling in _public, _around his _entourage_).

"Very well, actually." She smiled.

"Glad to hear it. Shall we get to class then?"

"We shall."

He looped his arm through hers and walked her to her locker. He carried her books in one arm and walked her to first period.

He stopped in the doorway. "I believe this is your class, Miss King."

She was trying so hard not to laugh at his little show. He really could be adorable sometimes. "Indeed it is, good sir."

"Wonderful. Your books." He handed them to her, then took one of her hands.

Right there in front of everybody, he raised it to his lips and kissed it, keeping his eyes on hers the entire time.

She was pretty sure she burst into flame. Or combusted. Or-

"Have a nice day, darling."

She was officially a pool of lava on the floor. Still, she managed to stutter out a "You too," and stumbled to her seat.

She knew he was smirking behind her, and for once, she didn't care.

The teacher began lecturing, and Chloe had to bite her lip hard the entire class to keep from grinning like an idiot.

* * *

><p>"Did you know that <em>mardi gras <em>means Fat Tuesday in French?"

"…What?"

"I'm just saying. Today's Tuesday."

"…You don't want to cook, do you, Mom?"

"Not really."

"I don't blame you. Takeout?"

"I'll projectile _vomit_ if I eat anymore takeout."

"So you want good food."

"No, I want mystery meat. _Yes_ I want good food."

"Okay, no need to be snappy… Olive Garden?"

"Oooh. I like the way you think, daughter of mine."

"I like the way you agree, mother of mine."

"What are you going to order?"

"Probably pasta. And salad. Oooh, and maybe some shrimp."

"You and that shrimp. It's disgusting."

"Is not! What are you going to order, then?"

"I was thinking soup. And bread sticks. But mostly soup. I love it."

"…"

"You know who else makes good soup?"

"I knew you'd say it. Don't go there, Mom."

"_Alek_, that's who."

"And you went there. Mom, you didn't even _eat_ any of his!"

"So? Doesn't mean it's not good. You liked it, didn't you?"

"It was fine."

"Uh huh. You not only like his soup, but you like _him._"

"Mom…"

"Chloe and Alek, sitting in a tree…"

(Really, it was only ever just Alek in a tree. Specifically, the tree outside her bedroom window.)

"Really, Mom? How old are you, four?"

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Responsibly. And with mutual respect for how far the other is willing to go past that."

"Nice touch."

"I thought so."

* * *

><p>Alek grabbed the last piece of pizza and downed it before Jasmine could.<p>

She gave him an irritated look. "How many pieces did you have? Seven?"

"Try ten." (It was actually eleven, but who was keeping count? Alek certainly wasn't.)

She rolled her eyes. "Pig."

"I'm a cat hybrid, actually. But I was born in the year of the pig."

"Explains a lot."

Alek arched an eyebrow. "Oh? And what year were you born in?"

"The dog."

"Ha! Talk about irony, on _so_ many levels. What's Zane doing with a _dog_ like you then?"

"Haha. Very funny." Jasmine blushed. "He wants to go to the carnival on Friday, but… I dunno."

Alek's mind flashed to an image of Chloe clinging to him on a ride, her supple body all pressed up against his, him having an excuse to hold her tight… "Well, if you don't want to go with him alone, then you could always make it a group date."

She looked at him dubiously. "Group date."

"Yeah. I'm sure Amy and Paul would be up for it." Alek smirked.

Jasmine wrinkled her nose. "Yeah. They're sweet, but… no."

"Alright. Me and Chloe then."

Jasmine's eyes widened and she grinned. "You little sneak!"

"Excuse me, there is nothing _little_ about me. _Nothing._"

"That's disgusting. Year of the pig moment much?"

"Offer going once… twice…"

"Okay okay fine! Bring Chloe. And Amy and Paul. Why not? We'll make it a party." Her tone was condescending, but Alek could tell she was relieved.

"When did you say this was?"

"Friday night."

"Friday? Jasmine, it's Wednesday, and I won't see Chloe until tomorrow. Short notice much?"

"Pig."

"Dog."

"Go to bed."

"You're not my mother."

"Valentina left me in charge." He decided not to comment on her slip; saying _Valentina_ instead of _Mom_.

"Fine. Just to indulge in your false sense of superiority, I'll retreat to my sty for the night."

"Good."

"Have fun chasing your tail in my absence."

"This dog/pig thing has got to stop."

"Sure thing… Lassie."

"Wilbur."

"Perdita."

"Babe."

"Jasmine, I don't blame you for wanting me, but I'm not into incest."

"_Ugh!_"

"Disappointing, I know."

* * *

><p>Chloe was running as hard as she could, but it wasn't amounting to anything.<p>

He was still behind her, still after her. Sleek, silent. _Deadly._

She bounded over a fallen log, and kicked off a tree with one foot to propel herself through the air, across a fairly wide stream.

She hit the ground still running, and heard her pursuer's footsteps fade behind her. Soon, they disappeared altogether.

She kept running.

_Where are you, Alek?_

She heard branches crackling above her, and felt eyes on her. She picked up the pace a notch, hurling headlong through thick, flowery bushes.

She'd probably have had sixty million bug bites by tomorrow if she hadn't thought ahead and caked on bug spray thicker than her actual skin.

The colors of the flowers leaped out at her in her night-vision; blues, reds, purples, yellows. The leaves seemed greener and the stars seemed brighter.

It would have been beautiful if she hadn't been so focused on staying alive.

She was about to leave the mess of flower bushes and crash into more trees and keep running when suddenly the ground fell out from underneath her.

She felt the sickening drop in her stomach and heart, and braced herself for a long fall, but it was a short one; only five feet or so. She landed hard though, and her breath left her for a moment.

She gasped in air, closing her eyes, waiting. She had failed.

She felt it the second that someone's weight was above her own, felt the sharpness against her throat. She tried not to cringe.

"Nice try. I liked the move with the tree and the stream."

She opened her eyes, staring up into glowing green ones like her own. Alek was on top of her, and behind him she could see the night sky and the flowers dangling into the pit from the bushes.

His claws were out, and he held them against her neck nonchalantly. She knew he'd never in a million years hurt her, but it was more than a bit unnerving to know that if she moved just a _little_ her throat would be sliced into ribbons.

"Jasmine taught me last week."

He nodded. "Know what you did wrong?"

Chloe thought back to the hunt; the feeling of being stalked, the adrenaline, pounding through the trees…

"I ran blindly," she realized. "And without trying to be stealthy. I just wanted to get away."

Alek pursed his lips. "Mmhhmm. And do you know how to fix that?"

She couldn't resist anymore. She'd been replaying the kiss they'd shared in her head since last weekend. She wanted him. There was no denying it now.

She smiled impishly. "Incapacitate my attacker from the start?"

She reached up, tangling her fingers in his hair, and his claws vanished instantly. She drew his head down to hers and almost moaned when his lips touched hers.

He did amazing things to her with his mouth, and moved his hand from her throat to stroke down her side, rub little circles on her hip bone.

He coaxed her tongue into his mouth, then sucked on it a bit. She thought she'd die eight times right there.

The way Alek kissed her was perfect. It was everything she'd always thought a kiss should be. It was everything _Cosmopolitan _thought a kiss should be, which was saying something.

Her entire mind shorted out when he kissed her. She didn't think about any of her problems, didn't think about assassins and the Order, didn't think about dying again. She didn't think about how inexperienced she was, didn't think about what she should do next or if she was doing this right.

She just felt.

She felt the way his hard muscles tensed under her touch, and then relaxed, felt the way he touched her with his hands, felt the emotion behind his kisses, felt the way he tilted his head to get just the right angle and she responded with the perfect action to mirror his…

He pulled away, and Chloe's breathing was so shallow it almost scared her.

He literally took her breath away.

He smiled, and it wasn't a smirk, or a tease. Just a smile with no walls, and nothing but sincerity behind it.

_I made him smile like that._

The realization jolted her more than it probably should have.

_Brian smiles __**at**__ me. Not __**because**__ of me._

That realization was more shocking than the first.

She had a lot of thinking to do.

"Good guess, and if it was just one attacker, that might work. But that's not the answer."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I should be lighter on my feet and think as I run. I should try to outsmart whoever it is, and act on defense."

Alek winked. "That's my girl. See? Told you I was a good teacher."

"Yeah yeah."

"You know, good teachers take their students on field trips."

Chloe liked the sound of where this was going. "Very true. Go on."

"Would you perhaps like to go to the carnival with me tomorrow? Jasmine and Zane are going, and they want to know if you and I… and even Amy and Paul… would like to make it a group date."

Chloe grinned. "Carnival? You don't seem like the face paint type."

"No, but I am the greasy food type. And the competitive type, which is always a good thing to be at carnival games. And the fast, puke-your-guts-up roller coaster type. And the-"

Chloe laughed, reached up to push some hair out of his eyes. "Okay, okay! Point made. Yes Alek, I would very much like to go to the carnival with you."

He smiled again.

She was quickly beginning to love that smile.

"Excellent."

He stood up and reached down to help her up. She took his hand, and he pulled her to her feet, barely an inch away from him.

She looked around at the hole they were in, (She wondered how it had got there- it didn't look man/Mai made- then decided she didn't want to know) then back at him.

She narrowed her eyes. "Don't ever make me fall again."

"_Goodbye, Chloe…" "Felt like I broke every bone in my body…" "False reports of a girl being thrown off a couple of months ago…"_

His eyes softened in understanding, which was better than pity. Much better. "I can't promise that."

Chloe looked away; up at the flowers, the trees above them, the stars above everything.

Alek took her chin in his fingers, forced her to look at him again. She knew her gaze was steely, but she couldn't help it.

"But if I do, I promise I'll be at the bottom to catch you. Okay?"

She stared at him a moment; his cat eyes, the shape of his jaw and nose, those lips that had been on hers mere minutes ago…

"Okay."

She decided she didn't mind being chased so much when it was Alek doing the chasing.

**Anndd this brings us to the beginning of Beautiful Day! How about that. Review?**


	3. Chapter 3

**And here is the last and final chapter! It picks up right before the beginning of **_**Beautiful Day.**_** I just want to say thank you so much for all the interest! I really appreciate it. **

**Sidenote: I do switch some things up in this. It could be little things, like clothing or the expression on someone's face in one of the photo booth pictures (cough Chloe cough), or something big, so keep an eye out!**

"So, what does one _wear_ to a carnival, anyway?" Amy asked, perusing the racks of clothes.

Chloe had had to work from the end of school until five, which gave her exactly an hour to get ready for the big date night.

Amy, it seemed, had started early.

"I wasn't sure either." Chloe admitted. "And Jasmine won't answer my inquiring text messages."

Chloe was honestly debating on sending _**I'M BEING ATTACKED!**_ to get the girl's attention.

But she figured it was better not to jinx herself.

It was her and Alek's first official date, and she didn't want a single thing to go wrong. She wanted to see how compatible they were in a natural setting, outside of training or Uniter duty or any type of crises or pretending to be normal at school.

"Psh. The _one time_ we need her to answer," Amy muttered, pulling out a silky yellow top, making a face, and putting it back.

"I know right?" Chloe asked, eyeing the new inventory boxes that needed to be priced according to Lana's standards and put up.

She really hated doing new arrivals.

Sighing, she stooped to her work and chatted with Amy as she hung the clothes up, marking them with out-of-this-world prices.

"Oh, wow! Look at this," Chloe held up the shirt for Amy to see.

It was made of dark blue cotton and was a halter top. A V shape lined in rhinestones split right down the middle of the front, revealing a lot but not enough to be considered _too _inappropriate by someone that wasn't a very strict mother or over the age of 39.

Amy gasped, clutching at the shirt. "Oh my God. Chloe, you have to get this! I will never forgive you if you put this on that rack."

Chloe pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side, considering. She wasn't blind. She'd noticed the way that Alek's eyes sometimes lingered on her body, and how they did so a lot more frequently when she was wearing something like _this_ as opposed to, say, a band t-shirt.

She wasn't even going to deny liking it.

"I don't know… I kind of already had a shirt picked out for tonight."

She realized her slip and winced as Amy started squealing. Lana turned and glared.

"_Oh my God_, Chloe, Alek would _die_ to see you in that! Seriously, his eyes would pop out of his head! _Get it get it get it get it!_ You really need to put forth a little more effort than usual anyway, I mean, this _is_ your first date, after all."

Chloe bit her lip, and then rung up the shirt for herself as quickly as possible, putting it on her tab to be taken out of her paycheck.

* * *

><p>He was ten minutes early when he arrived at Chloe's house, and he nodded at the Mai on her roof, signaling that it was time for him to go. The warrior nodded back, and silently jumped from roof to roof as he left.<p>

Chloe was blasting music, so he could hear it from the street with his enhanced Mai senses. It was some peppy tune that's extremely popular.

He didn't particularly like it, but the image of Chloe dancing around in her underwear to it was so funny he grinned like an idiot anyway before knocking on the front door.

Meredith answered it, beaming at him. "Alek! Hi! Come on in, Chloe will be down any second."

"Thanks," he said, and stepped inside.

"So you're going to the carnival?" Meredith asked casually, picking her rag back up and continuing to wipe down the island.

Alek took a seat across from her. "Yeah. We're going to meet Jasmine and her new boyfriend, Zane, and Amy and Paul."

Meredith's eyes lit up at the mention of Chloe's friends, and it struck him suddenly that they did the same thing when she saw him on her doorstep.

He wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that.

"Oh, that'll be fun! I-"

Meredith cut off as pounding footsteps come running down the stairs. Alek swiveled around, and there was Chloe, dashing down the steps in a worn t-shirt and faded jeans.

"Mom, have you seen my-" Chloe cut herself off when she saw Alek sitting there. "Oh. Hi. Sorry, I'm running a little late."

He gave her a small smile. "Actually, _I'm _running _early._ Don't worry, you have plenty of time."

She frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, definitely. I kind of want to give Jasmine and Zane some time to themselves, so we'll even walk slow."

The carnival wasn't too far from here, but for the first time he started to worry that perhaps he should have brought a car. That was standard first date protocol, wasn't it?

Chloe smiled though, at the mention of Jasmine, and shrugged easily. "Oh, okay then."

Meredith was smiling knowingly to herself. "What was it you wanted, kiddo?"

Chloe seemed to remember her mother for the first time. "Oh, I just wanted to know if you'd seen my-"

She cut herself off again, and turned a shade of bright red that couldn't have been healthy. Immediately, Alek was intrigued. What would she be ashamed to ask for in front of him?

"Never mind, I think I know where it might be." Chloe scurried through the room, and disappeared.

Meredith shrugged at him. "My daughter is so weird."

_I could think of some better adjectives._

Chloe reappeared, carrying a basket of laundry up the steps. "I'll be right down!"

Alek decided he didn't really want to know.

He tuned into Chloe's noises carefully as Meredith continued to flutter around the kitchen; the sound of her heartbeat, her breathing, her hitting buttons repeatedly to turn her music down.

The sound of clothes hitting the floor.

His mouth went dry, and he began to ache all over.

He bounced his leg up and down, anticipation eating it's way through him. She was changing clothes? Why? And more importantly, why hadn't she invited him to _watch_? Or better yet, _help_?

She came down the steps much more calmly this time, and he had to remind himself not to let his eyes go green in front of her mother at the sight of her.

The shirt she was wearing clung to her like a second skin, and his eyes were drawn to the shiny V that left little to the imagination.

He found himself imagining running his fingers over the cleavage and skin inside of those rhinestones, and then his lips and tongue…

He jarred himself out of his reverie enough to catalogue the rest of her outfit; a blue jean mini skirt that left her smooth legs bare, and blue Converses that made the whole thing actually look _casual._

Her hair was it's usual curliness, but she was wearing more makeup than usual, and he tried very hard not to stare at her lips because if he did, he would absolutely lose it right here, and that would not be good.

This was their _first date._ It had to be memorable at worst, and completely perfect at best.

While pouncing on her right here- in front of her mother, no less- would certainly be memorable, that wasn't the angle he was going for.

"You look amazing," he managed, and immediately felt inadequate. _Amazing_ wasn't a good enough word. _Stunning_ would have been better. Or _gorgeous._

Chloe didn't seem to think so, though. She grinned and gave him a quick once over, and instantly he stood, and tried not to slump too much. "Thanks. Want to get going?"

Alek pretended not to notice Meredith's snickering at his dumb-struck expression. "Yeah, definitely. I won't have her out too late, Mrs. King."

"Yeah yeah. Have fun you guys! Take good care of my baby, Alek!" Meredith smiled and waved a little after giving Chloe a hug.

Oh yeah. He was definitely (finally) in the woman's good graces.

"Of course! Good night." Alek waved too, and took Chloe's hand when he shut the front door behind him.

He turned to her right there on the porch, unable to help himself. He stroked back a stray piece of her hair while she gazed up at him, and he had the feeling of getting lost in her eyes.

"You really do look gorgeous, you know."

She smiled, and leaned forward to peck him on the mouth. "I would say the same to you, but stroking your ego can be dangerous."

He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Dangerous can be fun, you know."

Chloe rolled her eyes, and without even consciously deciding to do it, they both fell into step as they made their way to the sidewalk. "I was actually planning on _avoiding_ danger tonight, actually."

"Then we better get a move on, or Jasmine will kill us."

Perceptive as always, Chloe asked, "Is she nervous about Zane? Thinking things are getting too serious?"

Alek sighed. "I think so. Maybe if she ever decides to stop being so tense and let loose a little…"

"Maybe tonight she will. I have a feeling she might."

Who was he to argue with the Uniter?

Besides, tonight, it was all about _them_.

Not Amy, not Paul. Not Jasmine or her new beau.

And certainly not about that _human._

Just them.

The thought left him breathless.

* * *

><p>Chloe was seventy percent certain she was going to lose one of her lives to a heart attack. It would be physically impossible to consume <em>this much grease<em> and _not_ die of a clogged artery or five.

This would be the third overly-large funnel cake she and Alek had shared in the last _hour_.

"Open," he demanded, holding up a piece, and she obediently opened her mouth and let him feed her.

"Whoops," he smirked, swiping his thumb across her lips. She felt the sticky white powder there, and swallowed faster so she could lick it off.

Alek didn't give her time to, though. "Might want to get that off."

And then he leaned in and kissed her.

Normally, Chloe wasn't one for public displays of affection. She could remember gazing (glaring) at couples in the hallway with Amy, or rolling her eyes at ones in the mall and muttering about how inappropriate they were acting to her mother.

If they felt anything at all like what she felt when Alek kissed her, she'd take it all back.

She pressed herself closer to him, feeling his strong body against hers, and opened her mouth a bit in invitation. Alek took the hint and traced the outline of her lips with his tongue, and she shivered so violently she almost jerked away from him.

He barked a laugh and pulled away, and she was about to retort in anger when she opened her eyes and saw him looking down at her in complete adoration, with _that smile_ on his face.

"Whoo!"

Chloe looked to her right sharply at the hooting, and saw Paul and Amy standing there watching. Paul looked slightly embarrassed and was blushing and looking away, while Amy grinned like an idiot.

Jasmine and Zane emerged from their ride, breathless. Jasmine had the biggest smile on her face that Chloe had ever seen, and her windblown hair and glowing skin made her look beautiful.

Chloe was so happy for her friend she could have done a dance right there in the middle of the carnival.

She wondered if she looked that way when she was standing next to Alek.

* * *

><p>"Ferris wheel time!" Amy sing-songed, skipping ahead of the entire group.<p>

Alek felt Chloe stiffen underneath his arm, but decided not to comment on it.

She slowed down, falling to the back of the group. Alek adjusted his long strides accordingly and wondered what had gotten into her.

Zane pressed a kiss to Jasmine's forehead and led her to the wheel by the hand. Amy hopped on Paul's back and he staggered over to the nearest empty seat.

Chloe hesitated, tilting her head back to stare at the Ferris wheel, squinting against the last few rays of the setting sun.

And suddenly Alek got it.

"Chloe," he said softly, and figured he ought to hate the way his voice came out all soft. But he didn't.

She looked at him, then glanced away.

"Hey," he said again in that same tone that still didn't make him ashamed.

This time her eyes met his and held.

"I told you I wouldn't let you fall, didn't I?"

Chloe rolled her eyes, but he could tell she felt more calm. "Yeah yeah. Let's get on here before all the good seats are taken."

She threw her legs across his and laid her head on his shoulder, her arms wrapped around his waist.

He kissed her senseless when they got stuck at the very tip-top, and she thought of a whole new way to fall.

She wasn't sure which was the scarier way.

Underneath them, Amy squealed again, and Jasmine winked from behind them.

* * *

><p>Amy and Chloe collapsed onto a picnic table, giggling.<p>

"Oh my God!"

"These are so cute!"

And they were.

The picture booth had been a good idea.

"_Adorable._" Amy declared, staring down at her copies.

"What is it about photo booths that brings out _crazy face_?" Chloe asked, scanning all the ridiculous poses they had struck.

"You know, they're not _all_ crazy." Amy pointed out, handing her the slip with the tiny picture of Alek kissing Chloe's cheek.

It struck Chloe suddenly how _hot_ they looked together, and how sweet and loving Alek's face looked, and how peaceful and happy hers did as she glanced at him sideways, smiling in adoration.

_There's love in my face, too._

She decided not to dwell on that.

"Annnddd, the plan comes together." Amy said.

Chloe looked up. "What plan?"

"_This. Us._" Amy believed way too much in fate. She could be so incredibly dramatic. "Me and Paul, and you and Alek. Life is going to be _so_ much easier now that we're both a couple."

Chloe shook her head. "Yeah, because _that's_ what was making my life so difficult."

She realized as she said it that it sort of was. Her personal life, anyways. Balancing the sort-of-kind-of friendship with Brian, and the tension with Alek, had been so hard.

Tonight had been so wonderfully easy.

"Besides… Alek and I are not a couple."

Her voice didn't make that sound as confident as she wanted it to.

Amy looked at her dubiously. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you're not on a date."

This was most _definitely _a date.

"Funnel cakes and Ferris wheels do not a relationship make." Chloe muttered defiantly.

"No, two people that clearly want each other make a relationship. And I think you and Alek definitely fit that bill."

"Yes! I like him, okay? There. I said it _out loud, in public_-"

"_**Couple.**_" Amy stressed, turning the two syllable word into five.

A smile and a grimace warred on Chloe's face.

The smile was winning in spite of her.

Alek and Paul reappeared then. They had run off after the photo booth, and now Alek sat down beside her with a large, cuddly stuffed lion in tow.

"For you," he announced, handing it to her.

(Oh, her mother would have a _field day _with this one.)

"Awwee!" Chloe cooed, cupping the lion's face in her hands.

"Apparently I broke some sort of record or something," Alek shrugged, making a flippant move with his hand.

There was the cockiness back for a visit; probably a defense mechanism to cover up his very sweet action.

Chloe couldn't really say she minded his egotistical attitude. Everything he did these days sent a (very inconvenient) thrill rushing through her body.

That, and the way he had just said _record_, in that incredibly sexy accent of his_._

"Resemble anyone you know?" Alek asked in an almost cautious tone.

"Hmmm…. There is a certain arrogant gleam in his eyes that seems familiar…" Chloe teased.

She didn't miss the gorgeous, amused smile he sent her at that.

She leaned forwards on impulse and kissed him. It was shorter than most of their kisses had been tonight, but it was electrifying, and she smiled against his mouth.

"And uh… I won this… for you." Paul handed Amy a little frog key chain, seeming embarrassed.

"Awwwee!" Amy giggled, taking the frog happily and pressing the button to make the light on it's throat glow. She showed it to Chloe happily, and Chloe smiled for her friend.

(She thought her prize was better, but she'd never in a million years admit it.)

"Maybe if you kiss it, it will turn into a prince," Alek suggested.

Chloe swatted his arm, and he winked at her, and she felt herself melt.

She was in big trouble.

"I already _have_ a prince." Amy clutched at Paul's arm possessively, and leaned against him.

The boy practically broke his face in half, grinning so large.

"I just have one that is horrible at ring toss." Amy smiled, and fingered her key chain again.

"Yeah well, I'll unleash the monster at milk bottles!" Paul grumbled.

Alek rose his eyebrows. "Seriously?"

"I'll have you know, I'm a master." Paul announced.

Chloe would never in a million years admit that something inside her wanted to see Alek win out over Paul. It felt almost primordial, instinctual, and she shifted closer to him.

"Please. You'd be lucky to knock even _one_ off."

Alek had a point.

"Think you could do better?" Paul asked in a lousy imitation of Alek's accent.

Chloe noticed the flash of competitiveness in his eyes as she and Amy "Ooh!"ed. She dug her nails into the under side of the bench to keep from pulling Alek's mouth to hers and jumping him right here.

Had absolutely everything about him always been so damn _fine_?

She felt really stupid for not noticing before. Or refusing to notice.

"Boys," she sighed as Alek and Paul stalked off to duel it out. "It's like watching a slightly sad nature special."

Jasmine appeared next to her, and slid into the seat beside her. "Cute!" She said, gesturing to the lion. "Let me see!"

"Oh," Chloe said, not wanting Zane to feel left out, "there's a hardcore cage match about to begin if you're interested. I believe it involves milk bottles…?"

"No, I think I'm good right where I am." Zane shook his head, and Jasmine beamed.

Then Zane's phone started ringing.

He huffed out a frustrated breath. "And, that would sound slightly more romantic if I didn't have to take this. Sorry." He pressed a kiss to Jasmine's temple and got up.

Jasmine turned to Chloe and giggled, and Chloe giggled back, even though she was starting to get a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach.

It was almost _foreboding._

"Well done Miss Jasmine," Amy smirked.

"Thanks," Jasmine smiled. "He's sweet and sort of mysterious, which I kind of like."

_Mysterious._

Something about that didn't sit well with Chloe.

She figured she was just being stupid and over-protective over her new good friend. Jasmine deserved someone totally awesome. That was a pretty hard thing to be by Chloe's standards.

Alek was doing very well rising to par, though.

* * *

><p>When he took her home that night, she carried her lion under one arm and held his hand.<p>

She was so tired from the school day and from work and from the carnival that she was pretty sure her head wouldn't even have a chance to hit the pillow before she was asleep.

"Beorn will be here to watch over you tonight. He's been in all the raids with Valentina and taken out around two dozen Order members with his bare hands. I completely trust him with your lives, which is saying something coming from me, so you should rest easy tonight," Alek said, squeezing her hand and glancing down at her.

Chloe liked it best when it was Alek watching over her; he was, in every sense of the word, _her _protector, and there was no one she trusted more than him. She knew he'd asked to be taken off full-time Uniter duty, though, and tonight was still _tonight_.

Normal date night.

Absolutely incredible, _fun_ date night.

And normal dates had a distinct ending, and she wouldn't rob them of that.

He walked her all the way to her front door before stopping and turning to her. Her heart started to beat louder and harder, and anticipation rushed through her.

They'd been kissing all night, and they'd kissed before, but this was The Official Kiss. It was a good night kiss; she'd never had one before, and she wondered what it would be like.

Alek didn't keep her waiting.

He took her lion and set it on the porch railing, then backed her gently against her door and pressed his body against hers. There was something intense in his eyes that she couldn't place, and they shown green through the night.

Instantly, hers changed to match his.

He leaned down and gently kissed her, cupping her face in both hands. She stretched up and against him, tangling her fingers in his hair and meeting his tongue halfway with her own.

He drew back only to kiss her again and again and again and again and again, over and over until she was dizzy with the sensation.

He left her lips swollen and her body aching and wanting _more_.

"Perhaps I could come by in the morning? Late morning, of course, you should sleep in. I'll make breakfast?"

The offer was made with his forehead pressed against hers and her body cradled against his.

How could she say no? "Sure. That sounds good."

He kissed her again, this time a little deeper, with a little more passion. His tongue pried her lips apart and she gasped. He took full advantage of that, running his tongue along her teeth and nipping on her lips.

She tugged harder on his hair and pushed herself closer, searching for some type of friction as desire coursed through her.

A throat cleared behind them, and they jumped apart to see a very large man at the bottom of the porch steps.

"Beorn," Alek nodded like nothing was out of the ordinary, but Chloe couldn't help but blush.

"Mister Alek. Miss King," he nodded at Alek and bowed a bit at Chloe. "I'll just… uh… go on up, then."

They all nodded and Alek turned back to her. He raised her hand and kissed every finger delicately, tenderly.

She smiled warmly at him.

"I had a lot of fun. I'm glad you came," he whispered.

"I had a lot of fun, too. Thanks for my lion."

"Night, darling." One last kiss against the back of her hand.

God, she really, really liked him. Really wanted him.

"Night."

Closing the door on his retreating figure was one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do.

Her mother screeched louder than Amy ever had when she saw the stuffed animal.

* * *

><p>"Alek, can we just hire you as our full time chef?" Meredith managed around a huge bite of made-from-scratch pancake.<p>

Alek grinned. "Sure, if you can afford my rates."

Chloe rolled her eyes good naturedly, and sat down beside her mother, biting into her crispy bacon.

Her phone started vibrating loudly, and her mother grabbed it before she could, glancing at the caller I.D.

Her eyebrows shot up, and Chloe knew who it was without having to ask.

"Give me that," she said, holding her hand out. Her mother reluctantly handed over the phone.

"Hey," she answered, avoiding Alek's glare and moving out onto the porch.

"Hey yourself," Brian answered. "You feeling a road trip today?"

Chloe's curiosity was really going to have to learn to be disciplined. But that could wait for another day. "Intrigued… still listening."

"I think I'm finally going to go and check out that address."

"What are you gonna do, just run up and knock on the door?"

She could hear his breathy laugh. "Don't mock. It took me hours to come up with that plan."

This was quite possibly the most irrational, impulsive thing she'd ever heard, and that was counting all the crazy things she'd done herself in the past couple of weeks.

"You know this could be dangerous, right?" She asked, despite knowing that Alek could probably hear every word she was saying, if not Brian as well.

There was a smile in his voice when he answered. "That's why I'm bringing you along. To protect me."

Oh, if only he knew. "You laugh, but I pack quite the punch."

And the swipe of claws. And the roundhouse kick. And-

"Pick you up in an hour?"

"Umm…." She glanced back into the house, where Alek was steadily staring her down and her mother was chattering mostly to herself in an effort to defuse the tension. "Sure, why not? I'll meet you out front."

The last thing she wanted was Brian coming to the door and Alek opening it.

She hung up wincing, and instantly, Alek was behind her, shutting the door behind him.

"What. The. _Hell, _Chloe King?"

Instantly, she was put on the defensive. "What, are you suddenly allowed to pick and choose who I'm allowed to spend my free time with?"

He was quite intimidating when he wanted to be. He was so much taller than her, and she could see the outline of his clearly defined muscles through the white shirt he wore. He was positively livid, she could tell by the expression on his face, and his fists were clenched so tightly at his sides his knuckles were white.

"No, but I am allowed to tell you that running off to do something that could possibly be _dangerous_ with that _stupid human_ is _not_-"

"If it were Paul, would you still have a problem?" She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

She hated fighting with him. Why couldn't he just ask to pack her lunch and kiss her on the cheek before she left? Why did he have to be difficult?

"Yes, actually, I would, seeing as the _dangerous_ part of the equation would still be there."

Chloe huffed out a breath and turned away from him. "I didn't mean _that_ kind of dangerous. It's the normal kind."

"I don't like you being in _any_ kind of danger, Chloe. And you're going far away today, I distinctly heard the words _road trip_, somewhere I won't be able to get to you-"

"You're not re-" She cut herself off, realizing she was wrong.

He _was_ responsible for her, to a certain extent.

He stared at her before turning sharply and walking as far away as the small porch would allow, to stand with his back facing toward her.

She studied the way his shoulders heaved with his anger, studied the way he clutched the wood underneath his fingers furiously. She studied the tenseness in his muscles, the way he stood rigidly.

She imagined being in his shoes; if he was running off with a girl he had once had a severe amount of feelings toward to help her with something potentially dangerous, how would she feel about it?

The instant amount of emotion that thought up-heaved took her breath away, and she had to fight to keep from unsheathing her claws.

What was she doing?

Still, she couldn't leave Brian high and dry. He was her friend, and he needed her today.

Slowly, she walked towards Alek, noticing the way he grew stiffer. He was putting up walls again, and towards _her_, and it really sucked because she remembered the way he smiled.

She pressed herself against the back of him, contouring her body to his. They were like two puzzle pieces, molding together perfectly. She felt the butterflies in her stomach and the rapid beating of her heart at the contact.

She had made her choice, but that didn't mean she could go back on her word.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed, laying her cheek against his shoulder blade.

He twitched.

"I'm really sorry." She said so quietly it was almost a whisper. "But I can't call him back and tell him no. He needs me right now. It's not even anything to do with the two of us; I'm helping him through some family issues. I promised I would be there for him through this, and I will."

All the fight seemed to drain out of him, and he turned around and wrapped her up in his arms.

She could've purred from the feeling; she rested her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat like she had that day in the square. The steady thumping rhythm soothed her. She could listen to it all day, every day, and be perfectly content.

"I'm sorry, darling. I just don't like the thought of you going somewhere without me. And I certainly don't like you being without protection at all. Valentina will _kill_ me if she finds out. No joke. We still haven't found whoever was taking those photos."

There was a beat, and then he said, "Oh, and I absolutely _hate_ that _human._"

* * *

><p>Chloe couldn't stop laughing.<p>

Brian was telling her about a grade-school field trip, and a mishap with spaghetti, and they had been driving for over an hour and she still wasn't bored.

It was foggy at first, and Chloe had to resist the urge to use her cat eyes to see more clearly. It would be so easy, to lose control around Brian and slip up…

It got sunnier as the day went on, though.

They stopped for a break on a large hill overlooking other large hills, and Chloe sipped at her drink as Brian rambled on about bands and she teased him for his awful singing.

Then her phone rang, and she looked down to see Alek's photo splayed across her screen.

She glanced awkwardly at Brian, but she had promised Alek that she would answer any time he, Jasmine, Amy, or Paul called.

("After all," he'd said, "anyone could send a text message from your phone. I need to hear your voice. And if not me, then Jasmine, or one of your friends, who can tell me they talked to you. They're all awful liars." Amy hadn't been happy at all about her going anywhere with Brian, and Alek had actually acted like he liked her for the first time.)

She hit the accept button and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Ah, good. You're still alive. Avoided a catastrophe with Valentina this morning; I told her you were out with your human, but neglected to mention the finer points, like, oh, I don't know, the fact that _no other Mai_ is anywhere _remotely near you_?"

She snorted. He could be such a drama queen.

"I miss you too."

He sighed on the other end, not sounding happy at all. She'd really have to find a way to make this up to him. "Yeah yeah. Tell the human that if he lays a hand on you, I'll snap it off."

"No!"

"Well, I will."

"_Bye_, Alek."

"Bye darling. I'll call in another hour. Well… maybe forty five minutes."

She didn't dare meet Brian's eyes when she hung up.

* * *

><p>The big wrought iron gate loomed over them, tormenting them.<p>

Had they really come all this way for nothing?

"If someone's home, they're not answering," Brian grumbled, pushing the call button one last time.

He came to stand beside Chloe. "I _really_ wish I could see what's back there."

"Well," Chloe shrugged, "we came all this way. Let's take a look around."

She smirked and ran across the grass to the huge hedge. Brian frowned in confusion, but followed her.

"Give me a boost?" She smiled impishly at him.

He stood uncomfortably, hands in his pockets. "This has _bad idea_ written all over it."

"Relax," she scoffed, "I took gymnastics until I was like, twelve."

Brian smiled in spite of himself and cupped his hands near the ground. She stepped with one foot onto them, and felt him push up. She jumped and arced across the bush, landing gracefully on the other side.

Sometimes, she really loved being Mai.

"Are you okay?" Brian called worriedly.

"All good," she affirmed, looking around. Grass, trees, driveway, the occasional flower… nothing that interesting so far.

She ran back over to the gate, where Brian was waiting. "I'm just going to go see what's up there."

"What, run up and knock on the door?" He sounded incredulous.

Chloe tried very hard not to let her annoyance show, but her voice was laced with sarcasm. "Someone once told me that that was a _great_ plan. Don't worry, I'll be fine, _two_ seconds."

She turned and only got a few steps before a giant dog came barreling out of no where, baring it's teeth and barking it's head off.

Chloe stopped and gasped, flinching back. She had never liked dogs, and there seemed to be a deep instinct inside her that told her to _run_.

_Oh, my God, I'm going to lose another life and then Alek's going to __**slaughter**__ me. I'll be down to, like, six, before the night is over. _

Getting killed by a vicious dog was going to hurt, and she was going to get blood all _over_ this outfit.

She was vaguely aware of Brian screaming her name behind her, and then just as suddenly as the dog appeared, so did a woman.

She was regal and tall, with unnaturally red hair and a cane. "Samson, enough!"

The dog stopped barking and immediately ran off the way it came.

Chloe was still in a state of complete shock.

"Sorry to frighten you, but it seems you're unclear as to the point of the gate. It's there to keep intruders _out_. Now, what do you want?"

Chloe didn't answer, just stood tensely, all of her senses on high alert. She couldn't believe how stupid she'd been, putting herself in deliberate danger like that.

She felt almost guilty, in a way.

"Grandma?" Brian asked behind her, and she wanted to turn and reach for his fingers through the metal, to offer some level of comfort and stability, but she was still rooted to the spot. "It's me, Brian."

* * *

><p>It was almost time for Alek to call, so she hung back and let the grandmother and grandson have some privacy.<p>

The house was nice; large, on spacious land, surrounded by flowers.

The Rezzas obviously had always had money.

She wondered around aimlessly, waiting for her phone to buzz.

When it did, she smiled, expecting Alek.

What she saw made her heart stop and her blood freeze.

_**IN SAN FRANSISCO. MEET ME TONIGHT. -DAD.**_

Her eyes widened and she hit the call button without really thinking about it.

"_If he ever asks you to meet him, I want you to call me. I want to go with you."_

Alek answered before the end of the first ring. "Are you a mind reader now, too? I literally just picked up the phone to call you."

"Alek."

He heard the urgency in her tone and grew serious immediately. "Where are you? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing's _wrong._ At least, I don't think it's wrong."

"_Chloe-_"

"Dad just emailed me. He's in San Francisco, he wants me to meet him tonight."

Dead silence from the other end.

Chloe was seriously going to freak if he didn't say something soon. She was so glad she'd told him. So glad that she didn't have to deal with these awful/fantastic feelings alone.

Finally, "Where?"

"I don't know. He didn't say. He just said to meet him. I'm assuming he'll tell me the where later."

"And you want to do this?"

"Absolutely."

"…Okay. I'm going with you."

"I know. That's why I called."

"Well, that, and I'm sure you wanted to hear my incredibly sexy voice."

She couldn't help but laugh, feeling much lighter, much less serious. "Yeah. That, too."

"Message him back. Ask him where."

She did, exiting off the call screen and frantically typing _**WHERE? WHEN? CAN I TELL MOM?**_

After the blow up these emails had caused, she didn't want any more secrets between herself and her mother than strictly necessary.

"Okay. It's sent. I'll tell you when he replies."

"Okay. Be safe, Chloe."

She thought of the dog, and what could have happened. She winced. How would he have felt, finding out later that she'd been hurt by her own carelessness, and he hadn't even been around to save her?

"I will."

A beat, and then the line went dead.

She found herself desperately wishing he'd told her he loved her.

She found herself desperately wishing he had so she could say it back.

She wondered when things had changed.

* * *

><p>Olivia told the story of the falling out between her and her son.<p>

Chloe noticed she had a slight, strange accent, and when she did, she felt eyes on her.

She turned and looked around, but there was no one there.

Still, the feeling didn't go away.

When she got up again, she got another email.

_**NEED TO TALK ALONE. WILL BE IN TOUCH. -DAD. **_

She forwarded the email's contents to Alek.

_**Fishy… very fishy. Like Brian's genitals,**_ was the reply.

Chloe didn't know whether to scowl in indignation or laugh at his sense of humor.

She went for a _**Ha. Ha. :P **_And deleted it before anyone else could see.

* * *

><p>As they were leaving, with promises to come back and visit soon (Chloe actually kind of liked the woman. What could it hurt? It was so quiet and peaceful here. Well, minus the vicious dog she had put in its place earlier. Alek wouldn't like the idea, though), Chloe buckled her seat belt and checked her reflection in the mirror in the sun visor over her head.<p>

Brian pulled the car away, and Chloe noticed the flash of white reflected behind her.

An icy chill of fear shot it's way through her, and she tore her eyes from the visor to the rearview mirror.

Olivia stood with a tall, short-haired woman; the one she saw with Brian's father at the art gala, and one that was most definitely wearing a pure white outfit.

Both of the women were staring after the car, hard-eyed and menacing.

The Order had found her once again.

She was in such a haze of panic, she couldn't remember the rest of the ride home.

* * *

><p>Brian pulled over next to a sidewalk.<p>

It was almost dark outside now, and her phone was ringing again.

_Alek._

Alek would know what to do. Alek would help her take care of this.

When she thought of the danger she was in once again, and then the meeting with her father sometime soon, her head spun.

She glanced at Brian apologetically. "Um…"

"Thanks for coming with me today. You should take that."

"Bye," she said shortly and lurched out of the car.

"Hey," she greeted when she had hit the accept button.

"Why haven't you been answering? Where are you? Chloe, I _swear_-"

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" She was finally able to break down. She was no longer in front of Brian, and she could trust Alek, and her heart was beating out of her ribs because she'd seen the look in the Order woman's eyes, and it resembled the one in Scarface's right before he'd pushed her.

"Chl-"

"I'm sorry, Alek, I really am! But if I answered in the car, I was going to lose it, and I couldn't do that in front of Brian because he doesn't know, and-"

It struck her suddenly that she was still completely unprotected; completely on her own in the large city. Any of the people passing her right now could be assassins, and she was without Alek or Jasmine or _anyone._

He was saying something, but she talked over him. "Where are you right now?"

"The pier, why?"

The pier wasn't very far away at all.

Chloe took off running.

* * *

><p>"You're sure she was an Order member?"<p>

After finding Alek (and launching herself into his arms, and him kissing her all over to get her to a somewhat-calm state), he had taken Chloe right back to the apartment, where Jasmine was getting ready for her date with Zane.

Valentina had arrived home not long after, and was now in full-on interrogation mode.

"Yes. I'm positive."

"And she definitely knew this Olivia?"

Chloe remembered the way they had talked, the shared menace. "Yes. And she knows Brian's dad, Olivia's son. She was with him at the art gala."

Valentina stiffened. "The woman was with Whitley Rezza?"

"Yes." Chloe's mind was racing. This was all too much to handle.

She still had her father to deal with.

"I know the woman he's working with. Her name is Simone." (Valentina had warned the man to stay away from Chloe and anyone involved in any plot to murder her. Still, the man had had a falling out with his mother and hadn't spoken to her in years. It was entirely possible that Simone was working with them both and Whitley had no clue about her involvement with his estranged kin. Valentina hated giving the enemy the benefit of the doubt, but it had to be considered).

"Don't forget the anonymous stalker photo guy. Where does he come into all of this?" Alek threw in.

Chloe was beginning to feel lightheaded and dizzy. Tears stung her eyelids, but she refused to cry. She was the Uniter. She could handle this. Somehow she could handle this.

"Simone and Olivia are definitely after one of my lives. Or all of them. Whatever. I could feel it." Chloe took several deep breaths and tried very hard not to let it turn into hyperventilation.

Then Alek slipped his hand into hers, and she felt their fingers intertwine.

She sighed in relief, her head clearing immediately. She leaned her head over against his shoulder, and he kissed the top of her head.

Valentina's eyebrows rose.

Chloe felt so much more calm and in control.

What was she really freaking out about anyway? It wouldn't be the first time that someone had come after her for some reason. They could handle it. Alek would protect her, and Jasmine was already on the phone across the room, informing other Mai in the pride to be on the lookout.

Everything was going to be fine.

"Alright," Valentina nodded sharply, clearly not as reassured as Chloe. "Jasmine, cancel your date."

Chloe was about to protest when Jasmine called back, "Already did, as soon as Chloe got here."

The corners of Valentina's lips twitched upwards, and Jasmine smiled widely back.

"Jasmine, I want you posted outside of Chloe's house, but not somewhere obvious, like in a tree or on the roof. Take a car, sit in the back with the engine turned off, and _keep constant vigilance_. Alek, don't you dare leave her side. I don't care what you tell Ms. King, just make sure she's not alone. Chloe, don't go anywhere _near_ Brian. Don't answer calls or texts, and don't agree to meet him anywhere. As far as I know, Whitley has no idea what you even look like, and Simone probably didn't until today, which is why you weren't attacked at the gala, but there's still a very good chance of you being ambushed."

(Chloe knew better than to argue with Valentina when she was on a roll like this, and besides, she wasn't really in the mood to deal with Brian).

"That's all we can do for now, I suppose. We have to remain on the defensive."

Neither she nor Alek mentioned her father's messages, and she kept expecting her pocket to buzz the entire way home.

* * *

><p>There were several knocks on the apartment door a few minutes after Chloe and Alek left. Assuming they forgot something, Valentina opened it only to find Zane.<p>

"Um, hi. I'm here to meet Jasmine." He explained, looking somewhat nervous.

Valentina blinked. "She told me she canceled."

"Funny. I told him the same thing," Jasmine stepped out from behind the door and glared.

She had finally won her mother's approval over something, and he was _messing it up._ Big time. "I'm going to head on over to Chloe's."

She sidestepped him, and as loathe as he was to let her get away, Valentina was his main target.

Zane was thrown for a moment; he had been sure Jasmine would be out, so he could make something up about her sneaking out to meet him.

Well. No turning back now.

With a feral snarl, he lunged.

* * *

><p>"Just go hide in my bathroom! Hurry!"<p>

Chloe had heard her mother's heels approaching her room before Alek had, and she shoved him toward her bathroom door hurriedly, giggling.

Kissing him had quickly become her favorite past time.

She sat back down on her bed and fiddled with her phone.

Alek's two-second absence had become just enough time for her to be overwhelmed again.

Whitley and Olivia and this Simone lady and Brian… her dad.

It was all so much. Too much.

"Okay," her mother sighed when she opened the door. "I shouldn't be any later than eleven… Is Amy coming over?"

Amy usually always came over when her mother went out for the night.

Now, she was probably out with Paul.

"No," Chloe shrugged a little and resisted the urge to glance at her bathroom door. "Just me."

Instantly, her mother looked guilty. She tossed her clutch bag onto the bed and sat down beside Chloe. "I'm sorry about telling Amy about the emails from your dad, but come on. It's _Amy_. I just automatically assumed that she knew every micro-detail of your life."

It took Chloe a moment to comprehend that. "Wait, you did what?"

Meredith's eyes widened. "Oh. You haven't talked to her since… Oh."

"You know what, never mind. I'm just going to let that go and deal with it later." Chloe waved her hand dismissively. She had bigger things on her mind than Amy's hurt feelings.

Her mother pursed her lips. "Right… well, did you and Brian have a nice date today?"

Chloe was getting very tired of insinuations that there was more to her relationship with Brian than just friendship.

"It wasn't a _date._ We just went to visit his grandmother, she needed some help cleaning out her garage. I volunteered."

The lies came so easily these days.

"Awwe! How sweet. You really like him, don't you?"

"No! I mean, well, yes, but not like-"

"Then why don't you date him?" Her mother asked in utter exasperation.

"Don't you have an investor to meet?" She was _not_ having this conversation with Alek standing a few feet away.

"Eh, the investor can wait." Meredith shifted on the bed, getting comfortable. "Dating is confusing. _Especially _when two boys like you, I get that."

"You're going to keep giving me advice whether I want it or not, aren't you?"

"I'm just worried that someone's going to get hurt. And it would _break my heart_ if that someone were you."

Chloe wondered what her mother would say if she knew there had been several assassination/kidnap attempts made against her in the last few months.

Boys were the least of her problems. (But they were still on the list).

Meredith sighed again and shook her choppy brown hair out of her face. "You have to be honest about your feelings, kiddo. At the very least with yourself."

Chloe thought about Alek; how he'd do anything to save her, how he was always there when she needed him, how he laughed and how he teased.

Did she love him?

Was she _in love _with him?

And where did Brian fit in with all of this?

"I don't know what I feel!"

"Oh, I think you do. I think you know _exactly_ how you feel."

Chloe thought of being sick, of Alek taking care of her and holding her, and of waking up from fainting to see him staring down desperately at her, and feeling nothing but relief. She thought of the Ferris wheel and the way he kissed her.

She was silent for several moments, warring with herself.

She'd completely forgotten the boy she was thinking so hard about was in her bathroom and could easily hear every word.

"I think… that while I _was _attracted to Brian…. The only reason we got so involved is because of the whole _forbidden fruit_ complex. There were complications, and I knew I couldn't be with him, and I think that made me more stubborn. Made me want it more, you know?"

Meredith listened, thankful that her daughter was _finally _opening up after months of secrecy. She offered a neutral nod.

"And I think…" Chloe continued, "I think that I'm in love with _Alek_."

She sat there, shocked by herself.

Her mother didn't seem shocked at all. She smiled. "Sucks to be Brian, but… You love who you love."

Chloe sat there some more.

Finally, she said, "You should go."

"No, no, no! I can cancel," Meredith didn't want to let this moment pass. This moment with her daughter of complete honesty and openness, which rarely came around anymore.

"No way! It's important, and I don't want you to be late. Go. Me and my heart will be just fine."

Her mother reached out and placed a stray curl behind her ear. "They're both amazingly resilient."

She had no idea.

After the front door had closed, Alek reemerged from the bathroom, a slight smile on his face.

Chloe blushed crimson when she realized he had heard every word of that very private conversation.

What had she been _thinking_? Why hadn't she changed the topic?

"Don't be embarrassed." He smirked. "You love who you love."

"Alek."

"I was afraid I was making a fool of myself," he admitted sheepishly. "Sometimes it's not so bad, being wrong."

Chloe opened her mouth and closed it several times. She thought she must look an awful lot like a fish, and not even a cute one like Dory from _Finding Nemo_.

Boy, was this awkward on her part.

Alek sure seemed to be enjoying himself, though.

She thought about what Jasmine had told her once; that Alek deserved to be loved for who he was, and not as a replacement for who he wasn't.

"I…I just want you to know that I'm choosing _you_. I'm not just _settling_ because I can't have Brian. I mean, we both know I can't be with him anyway, but my point is-"

Alek cut her off by kissing her.

She moaned into his mouth and kissed him back. She was done beating around the bush and being indecisive when it came to him.

He had been right before, when he said they were meant to be together.

There was nothing that would ever feel as right as this.

Something inside the both of them sort of _snapped_.

His hands slid down her back, over her butt, to the backs of her thighs, and she knew what he wanted her to do.

She jumped up and he wrapped her legs around his waist, his tongue still drawing amazing patterns on the roof of her mouth.

Somehow she ended up on her back on her bed, with him hovering over top of her. Gently, he tugged at her arms and placed them above her head against the pillow. Her back arched instinctually, and her eyes flashed green.

His eyes did the same in return, and when he kissed her again, the heat went up by about five notches.

She flashed back to memories of Nikki and Lilah, the way they had told her to act "primal." To let out her wild side that night. She remembered the seductive ways their bodies had moved.

She hadn't understood what that meant. But she did now.

That was how she felt. _Primal._ She'd been ignoring this thing with Alek for too long, and now it was making itself known with a vengeance.

He ran his hands down her body, lingering in all the right places like her cleavage and the inside of her thighs, and she didn't stop him. She kissed him wildly, and he kissed back.

They were grinding and licking and nipping and sucking, and it felt _fantastic_.

Chloe let her nails turn into claws, and didn't even stop to think about it. She reached underneath his shirt and ran her hand up his chest, feeling every muscle and ridge and groove.

He shuddered over top of her and rubbed smoothly against her. She arched her hips up to meet him.

He pushed his thumb underneath the waistband of her jeans and stroked the hot skin there. She whimpered.

Then her phone buzzed.

She ignored it, only dimly aware of it's existence.

Alek broke away from her lips to kiss her neck, nip at her collarbone and lick at the swell of her breast.

She gasped and rolled her hips against his.

Her phone buzzed again, as it was programmed to do when she had a message she was neglecting.

"Check the damn thing before I toss it out the window," he growled, and she was tempted to do so herself.

But then she remembered.

Her father was in San Francisco. He wanted to meet up with her.

She raised her hips for a different (much less satisfying) reason, and dug underneath her for the phone.

Alek was busy placing gentle, loving kisses on her shoulder and down her other arm. He didn't seem concerned at all.

She flipped it open.

_**MEET ME AT HANNAH'S LAST STOP. HERE NOW. -DAD.**_

Chloe's eyes widened and she lurched up off the bed. Alek made an irritated noise. "What's it say?"

"He told me where to meet him."

She practically fell into her desk, and her hands were shaking so much it took her three tries to wrench the drawer open.

She grabbed the colorful little book and opened it to the last page.

"_WHERE THE CABLE CAR WAITS FOR THE NEXT MAGICAL RIDE"_ was written there in her father's blocky handwriting.

Her gaze slid to the drawing. A little yellow-haired girl and a brown-haired man stood holding hands and gazing at a cable car display.

She smiled a little.

She knew exactly where to go.

* * *

><p>"You know," Alek grumbled, watching as she straightened her clothes and smoothed her hair as they went down the stairs, "some teenagers get walked in on by fathers. We get mysterious messages telling us to meet him somewhere."<p>

Chloe rolled her eyes at him and grabbed her car keys.

He took her hand and squeezed it, noticing how jittery she was, and she smiled shakily at him.

She was going to be able to ask all of her most pent-up, burning questions soon.

She wondered how she'd feel about the answers.

She locked the front door behind them and rushed down the steps and to the sidewalk.

A car door opened, and Chloe heard her name.

Brian stood there, his car parked behind hers, and she whirled, staring at him in confusion. This was the last thing she needed.

He eyed her and Alek, their conjoined hands. "I thought you were staying in tonight."

"Um, yeah," she stuttered, then gestured to her and Alek's entwined fingers. "Last minute change of plans."

Alek smirked.

"I guess I'm a little late, I was going to try to convince you to have dinner with _me_." Chloe didn't miss the steely, distasteful glance Brian sent towards Alek.

She bristled. "Is everything alright?"

Brian's gaze returned to her, and he suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I, uh, had a blow-up with my dad. But, yeah, everything's fine. I just… wanted to talk to you about it."

Obviously he had misread her comment.

Still, she felt bad. "I'm sorry."

Brian shrugged.

"Look, maybe… maybe you should go home."

Brian started, looking at her as though she was crazy.

"Just… talk it out, alright? He's your father, I'm sure everything will be okay. We really have to go." She walked backwards and tugged Alek's hand.

He got the gist, and let go of her to climb into the passengers seat.

Chloe got into the driver's seat and offered Brian a tiny wave, but he was already in his car and driving in the opposite direction.

She took a deep breath and twisted the key.

No turning back now.

(Both she and Alek failed to remember that Jasmine was across the street and watching. She pulled out behind them, cursing under her breath).

* * *

><p>"I'm going in with you when we get wherever we're going."<p>

"I figured."

"Good as time as any to meet your father. Might as well get these sticky introductions out of the way."

"Should I announce you, oh Mighty One?"

"Sure…But I prefer the title of Boyfriend."

"I dunno… Alek the Boyfriend sounds significantly less badass than Alek the Mighty One."

"Chloe."

"What?"

"_Chloe._"

"I know, I know. It's just that… _boyfriend_ doesn't seem like enough of a word to describe…"

"Just like _girlfriend_ isn't enough for me. But it's more of a claim than I have now, no?"

"Alek…"

"Well, it is."

"But _Alek._"

"I know, I know…Do you prefer the term _mate_? That's what the Mai called something this… _intense_, originally. It signifies a stronger bond than your average courting terms, like _boyfriend and girlfriend_. Most tribes still use it, but Valentina frowns upon it. Says it's uncivilized. I think under those circumstances it's sexily rebellious, personally."

"Yes, like I'm going to waltz up to the father I haven't seen in ten years and say _Oh hey there Dad, good to see you. Meet my mate, Alek._"

"_My mate Alek._ Has a nice ring."

"…Kind of."

"_My _mate Chloe."

"…Oh, wow. Say it again."

"My mate Chloe."

"It's growing on me."

"You're mine, Chloe King."

"That one takes the cake."

"So walk up to him and say _Oh hey there Dad, good to see you. I'm Alek's now. Stop interrupting incredible snogging, would you?_"

Chloe laughed harder in the five seconds it took her to pull into the park's lot than she had the entire trip with Brian.

* * *

><p>Everything was exactly the way she remembered it.<p>

She could remember the fountains out front, and wondered if the pennies she'd thrown in so long ago were still in there. (The water looked different in the dark).

She could remember the detailed carvings above the doors of the theatre, and she used to think they looked like the icing that bordered birthday cakes. (Now they reminded her of shields and weapons).

Anxiousness overtook her, and she broke away from Alek's hand to run to the doors. She tugged on a few that were locked, but finally found one open.

He slipped in silently behind her, looking warily around. Their eyes glowed in the dimness.

Suddenly feeling intimidated by the monstrosity and darkness of the place, she reached for him, and he was right there, stepping up behind her to take her hand and press his chest against her back.

She relaxed a little, but her stomach was tying itself in knots and her heart was pounding so hard she was scared it would tire itself out and she'd lose another life from pure nerves.

She smiled a little when she passed the cable car display. (It looked the same as it always had. Even in the dark).

She stopped when she came to the room with the columns and the grand staircase. She'd never been allowed in this room when she was small. A giant chandelier hung from the ceiling, and the curtains were swaying in the breeze from the air conditioner.

"Come to the landing of the stairs with me, and then wait. He said to come alone, and I don't want to-"

"Okay. But I'm still expecting my introduction." He smirked, but it was forced. He stared down at her in worry as they climbed the stairs together.

She reached up and kissed his cheek.

When they reached the landing, he brushed his mouth against hers, squeezing her hand and wrapping his arm around her waist. He brushed hair back from her face. "I'll be right here."

She took a deep breath and nodded.

Chloe peered up the remaining few steps and tried to see through the doorway in front of them.

"Dad?" She called.

She jogged up the stairs and into the room. "Dad?"

There were several doorways in here, and she knew this was the lobby for the balcony seats in the many theaters. It was spacious and open.

She saw the outline of a man standing on the other side of the room, up a couple more steps, and sighed in relief. "Dad."

"I'm sorry," the man said, with a slight accent, stepping out of the shadows. He looked _nothing_ like her father, and everything like an assassin. "I'm afraid you have me mistaken for someone else."

It was then that she felt the other two presences behind her, and knew she'd been set up.

_Or maybe he'd been taken._

Anger consumed her. "If you did anything to my dad, you're going to regret it."

"Never laid eyes on him," the man shrugged.

_Set up it is. Ouch._

She'd never had contact with Jonathan King. Not once.

She felt like her heart might just crack open with the pain of this.

Someone had played her deepest wound.

She wouldn't let them win.

"Our only job," the man continued, "is _you_."

"Well in a few seconds you're going to wish you were in another line of work." She snarled.

Both guys behind her shot forward at once.

* * *

><p>Watching Chloe fight was extraordinary.<p>

He'd never really had the opportunity before; he was always fighting along-side her, training her and dodging her, or (Goddess forbid) elsewhere at the time.

But as soon as she'd taken down one guy, whirled, and saw him running at the scene full speed, she'd hissed "They're _mine_!" and he'd stopped to simply…observe.

She spun around, she kicked, she chopped and punched and clawed.

Within a few minutes, the two initial attackers were out.

He smirked as he leaned against the wall, immensely proud of her. (And himself, as well. He'd trained her after all).

He tensed though when she growled "You're up!" at the big guy though. He was taller than Alek was by a few inches, and a skyscraper compared to Chloe.

Chloe swung first (BAD MOVE BAD MOVE _BAD BAD BAD MOVE_! What was she thinking? He'd taught her to always stay on the _defensive_, damn it!), and the man grabbed her fist, punched her stomach, then let go of her arm to swing low and knock her feet out from under her.

"Oh _hell _no," Alek sprinted towards them.

"No Alek!" Chloe's shout stopped him. He jerked to a halt three feet from her attacker. "He's _mine_."

Chloe got up, and the man pushed her, _hard_, and her body went flying backwards. She rolled (he'd taught her that, too) straight into a defensive crouch.

He winced, though.

It was taking absolutely every ounce of his self control not to pounce in between the two and rip the man to shreds.

"You sure you don't want Romeo over there to help you out? You're making this too easy."

"Well, allow me to fix that."

She always had been good at comebacks.

She blocked every attack he sent her way after that, and sent him flying headlong into a shelf full of expensive looking pottery.

Alek allowed himself to start breathing properly again.

She only got hit once more (he distracted himself from the urge to _kill_ and _protect_ by imagining kissing the bruise later) before she took the man completely down in a wild frenzy of moves he didn't even know himself.

Oh yeah. Chloe was _pissed._

She stood there panting for a moment, mind racing.

Tears stung her eyes, but they weren't from the injuries she'd just received.

"Let's get out of here," Alek said, eyeing the men on the floor.

* * *

><p>Jasmine rolled her eyes for the millionth time. What were those two <em>doing <em>in there?

She thought of the way they kissed, and touched, and the looks they exchanged. Maybe she didn't want to know.

So far, everything outside the theater was quiet.

She was debating on going to get a burger and a milkshake and calling it a night- Alek was with her, he was perfectly capable of Uniter duty, and Chloe wasn't exactly defenseless, either- when a flash of white caught her eye.

A tall woman in white clothes was slipping through the door of the theatre.

And she was carrying a handgun.

Jasmine bolted out of the car and wished she'd parked closer.

* * *

><p>Chloe bolted past Alek and took off running. She wanted to be as far away from here as possible. He stepped on her heels a few times, right behind her, and almost caused her to fall down the staircase, but he reached out and grabbed her arm to steady her.<p>

It was then that she noticed the woman.

_Simone._

"Simone!" She gasped, skidding to a standstill.

Alek yanked Chloe backwards, behind him.

The Order member raised her eyebrows. "Hm. We'll discuss how you know me the next time we meet."

She brought her hands from behind her back to reveal a gun. Chloe's blood turned to ice and her heart skipped several beats.

"Assuming of course, that you come back to life. Pity that I have to get rid of your mate, as well. He's handsome, for a despicable _thing_. Unless, of course, he stands aside…"

"_Never._" Alek snarled. "You'll never touch her."

Simone smiled cruelly, and Chloe saw her shoulders and arms tense, and knew what it meant. "Well, if you insist…"

She shoved Alek to the side just as Simone pulled the trigger.

Her mind registered several loud booms, and three white-hot bursts of pain erupted on her skin, inside her, spread to the rest of her limbs like a fire.

She felt her face crumple with the pain, and she dropped, feeling the bullets tear into her chest, her stomach, her lower belly.

She could hear Alek roaring something in anguish, heard running footsteps and a door slam.

Nothing was louder than the sound of her own breathing.

So much pain. Oh, God, it _hurt._

"Chloe!"

She wished she could turn her head to see him, but suddenly he was right there.

She'd never seen Alek Petrov cry before. Weakly, she lifted a hand to wipe tears off his cheeks.

"Chloe, what were you thinking, huh? No, Chloe no." His voice broke.

She could feel it this time; feel her body shutting down. Her lungs weren't working right, and there was so much pain, and her heart was stuttering.

This was an awful way to die.

Her vision was blurring around the edges, and her hearing was fading. She knew the darkness that was coming for her this time, and tried to fight it a little while longer, for his sake.

She couldn't speak, couldn't do anything but shudder there on the theater steps and _die_. It was so horrible. So incredibly painful. The pain was so horrendous she wished she'd just hurry up and die already.

She'd do it again in a heartbeat if it meant he would live.

She last thing she saw was Alek's gorgeous face, and the last thing she felt was his lips against hers, and his breath in her ear as he whisper-sobbed things she couldn't hear.

And then she was gone.

* * *

><p>It was the longest sixty seconds of Alek's life. It was definitely the most terrifying. His entire world was lying dead on the floor beside him. She wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing. Her heart wasn't beating.<p>

She wasn't with him anymore.

The sixty seconds were the longest and the most terrifying.

They were also the most heartbreaking.

He couldn't stop whispering, and he couldn't stop crying.

On the sixty-first second, Chloe took the first breath of her third life.

* * *

><p>"Chloe, I love you."<p>

"I love you, Chloe, I love you."

"I _love_ you, Chloe."

"_Please_ Chloe. Please open your eyes. Oh, God, Chloe, I love you so much."

"Chloe please wake up. Chloe. I love you, Chloe."

"_I. Love. You._"

Chloe opened her eyes.

Alek was holding her; her head was on his lap, and he was stroking her hair and one arm was wrapped tightly around her waist.

She stared up at him, and his eyes widened in relief and amazement when they met hers. Neither of them had cat eyes any more.

"Alek."

His breath caught several times, and then he leaned down and kissed her.

It took her a moment to remember how to make her lips work again, and then she kissed him back, overjoyed at seeing him alive and okay and right there with her.

Jasmine burst through the door. "I took out Simone, and her getaway driver. _Oh my God, Chloe_!"

* * *

><p>Chloe called her mom and nearly had a breakdown at hearing her voice, but managed to stutter out that she was spending the night with Amy tonight on account of a random but catastrophic fight with Paul, and not to expect her home until tomorrow afternoon.<p>

The ride back to the apartment was otherwise completely quiet.

Jasmine's hands shook on the wheel, and Chloe was stretched out against a very emotional Alek.

She had to stop and get control over the pain in her torso several times when getting out of the car, and eventually Alek opted for just carrying her to the elevator and to the door.

The apartment was dark when Jasmine turned the key and let them in.

Valentina was sitting on the couch, in the dark.

"Mom?" Jasmine's voice was suspicious and confused.

Valentina didn't move.

Jasmine, Alek, and Chloe all exchanged worried glances.

Jasmine stepped cautiously inside, approaching Valentina hesitantly and glancing around anxiously. Her eyes glowed green. "Mom?"

She tapped Valentina's shoulder, and she slumped forward, falling to the ground.

Alek went rigid and Chloe gasped.

Jasmine screamed.

Then she dropped to her knees and started shaking Valentina. "Mom! Mom, wake up!"

Valentina didn't respond, and Chloe knew she was already gone.

Then she noticed the piece of paper on the fridge in the kitchen. The fridge that was always kept bare.

"Alek," she said, and gestured to it.

He frowned, and after listening intently and glancing around to make sure no one else was in the apartment, he sat Chloe down on a barstool, and ripped the note from the freezer door.

His eyes widened as he read it, and his face contorted into something unrecognizable, but clearly angry.

He thrust the note at Chloe, and she took it.

_Psh. Some pride leader you've got here. Jasmine, I'm coming back for you, but not in the way you're hoping- it's over, babe. Tell the Uniter hello for me. _

_P.S: It was good to see you again, Alek. __**Brother.**__ Up for some family bonding next time I'm in town? _

_-Zane_

Jasmine was sobbing on the floor now next to her mother's body.

"Jazzy," Alek said quietly after swallowing several times. "Jaz, come on. We've gotta go."

"W-w-where?" She managed.

"One of the safe houses. Come on."

Chloe walked to the elevator, and then to the car, by herself. Jasmine needed Alek's comfort more than she did at the moment.

She turned away, not only to give them privacy, but to hide the pain on her face that was coming from all different sources.

* * *

><p>The tiny duplex was nothing like the apartment had been. It was tiny and cozy, in a nice quiet neighborhood, but very high-tech.<p>

Alek had called Beorn on the way, and told him of Valentina. She would be taken care of.

Chloe took a shower, trying her hardest to ignore the painful bullet holes that were already slowly but steadily disappearing.

She, Alek, and Jasmine all shared one bed, with Alek wedged in the middle.

She didn't know how much sleep any of them _really_ got, though.

* * *

><p>It took seven hours to catch up with Amy and Paul. Seven hours to scrutinize and rehash every detail of everything that had happened.<p>

None of it really made sense, even after the recap.

Chloe really hadn't expected it to.

* * *

><p>Chloe and Alek went for a drive after the funeral.<p>

They laid on their backs on a grassy hill and watched clouds float by. The sun warmed them up as they kissed languidly.

They were both so tired of worrying. So tired of grieving.

"Don't ever give another life for me again," Alek murmured against her lips.

She smiled slightly. "I have nine, Alek. And I need you in every single one of them. Sacrificing one for you was easy."

"I love you," he breathed.

"I love you," she breathed back.

They would be okay. They all would.

Looking up at the blue sky again, and the fluffy clouds, and feeling the warmth and Alek next to her, and seeing the green grass wave in the breeze, she decided it really was a beautiful day after all.

She wouldn't mind having a few more of them.

**That's the end! Thanks so much for all the love and support aimed at this story. There MIGHT be a few upcoming drabbles based around this story. MAYBE. I promise nothing. But just in case, you might want to Author Alert. **

**And maybe review one last time while you're at it? **


	4. Abrus Notice

**Hello everyone! **

**I know it's been a very long time. Years, in fact. **

**However, it was never my intention to step away from fanfiction entirely, and so after a long break, I am finally back! **

**However. **

**After much consideration, I have decided to pursue fanfiction under a different pen name. **_**Abrus**_** is now the pen name you can find my work under. I hope everyone decides to embark on this new journey with me, as a better and happier writer. **

**Rest assured that this account will remain open (for the time being)! I don't want to take away the stories that have brought so many people joy. I just need to distance myself from them and create a separate platform for my brand new (mature and improved!) work. Along with FF, I've decided to also slowly build accounts on other fanfiction publishing sites as well, in order to expand my audience. So be looking for an Abrus to pop up elsewhere as well!**

**On that note… I'm sure at least some of you are wondering about _Have Mercy: Part Two. _**

**Well get ready everyone… because that IS happening. **

**It will be between five and ten chapters; I have decided to consolidate the plot and give all of you something amazing, of **_**quality**_**, rather than of quantity. **

**After _Have Mercy: Part Two_ is complete, nothing further will be posted to this account. It will all be found under Abrus. **

**I want to thank each and every one of you for sticking with me this far. It's been a crazy ride… **

**And as a consolation prize… **

**There is a BRAND NEW story posted on Abrus already. And brace yourselves because it's in the Harry Potter section. It's called **_**What Every Teenager Should Know About Drugs.**_** And if I see a boost in favorites/reviews/follows for the story and my new account, I'll publish the third chapter within 48 hours! (Don't worry. I update the story at least weekly anyway.)**

**THANKS AGAIN! Love and light to everyone, **

**Sunny. (Abrus? Yeah. Abrus. Go find me there.)**


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